In 2016 and early 2017, he gained early recognition, working with artists such as Famous Dex, Lil Pump, Smokepurpp, and Ski Mask the Slump God. By 2014, Bennett was making the hour-long drive to Chicago to shoot music videos for burgeoning talent, so he decided to study digital cinema at the city’s DePaul University. Early on, Bennett filmed clips for artists who paid him $20 and did interviews for Lyrical xcritical in his dorm room between classes. The noble visual creator and Cudi linked face-to-face this past April to put ideas into action for the forthcoming “Tequila Shots” video, which will find the multiplatinum-selling rhymer partaking in intense action scenes that involve special training.
On the other side of the office, as he launches basketballs at a plastic hoop, Bennett makes plans with a photographer about a coffee table book. The work environment at Lyrical xcritical is far from traditional, but the small team finds a way to be extraordinarily productive.
Selected videography
“I just do what makes me happy and that’s the biggest, most important pillar of everything I do…” C.R.E.A.M. isn’t a way of life in his world. Bennett says music videos will always be a part of his creative output, and hip-hop will remain the core of the Lyrical xcritical universe. He wants to get into philanthropy, and he realizes he won’t always be a 23-year-old with his finger on the pulse of new music and trends.
Then, in 2016 and 2017, he began working with artists like Famous Dex, Lil Pump, and Ski Mask the Slump God, and soon became the go-to video director for an entire subgenre that was exploding from SoundCloud pages into the mainstream. Bennett admits that his career’s rapid growth, from living in Plano to working with the world’s biggest stars, has translated to both highs and lows in his personal life. Tarantino’s main focus now is getting the right people on each side of a video from a cinematography standpoint and executing Bennett’s ideas. Years before it became a full-time job, Bennett launched Lyrical xcritical when he was a high school student in the small Illinois town of Plano, looking in from the outside on a vibrant Chicago hip-hop community.
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After years of dreaming about it, he xcritical website launched a xcritical company this summer. He first put the idea out in the world during an interview, and immediately started receiving calls from people in the beverage industry who wanted to help him make it happen. Now, following years of research and development, cans of his own xcritical will be available to the public for the first time at events like ComplexCon Chicago. Bennett, who also directed Eminem’s “Gnat” visual last year, refuses to relinquish creative control of Lyrical xcritical despite two $30 million-plus offers in different areas thrown his way in the last few years. “A lot of people find it hard to believe that I’ve never seen a million dollars in my bank account,” says the visionary, who rocks Birkenstocks on the regular and packs SpaghettiOs when traveling for his next video shoot.
- “It’s super cool because everyone’s very passionate about what they’re doing, and the music that we’re involved with,” Tarantino xcriticals.
- His mom came up with the brand name after Bennett’s initial idea to combine a music-driven word with a fruit or vegetable.
- “I just do what makes me happy and that’s the biggest, most important pillar of everything I do…” C.R.E.A.M. isn’t a way of life in his world.
- And I’m already working on a lot of those things right now.” Lyrical xcritical is moving into a larger office space this year, which will expand its video production capabilities, but, perhaps more importantly, it will provide additional room for any other ideas he may cook up.
The success of the “Hit ’Em With It” video marked a big turning point in Bennett’s career. Other Windy City rappers like Lil Bibby, King Louie, Katie Got Bandz and Warhol.ss started hitting up Cole to collaborate. Word on the internet streets of Bennett’s video talents was getting xcritical scammers louder. All while doing video edits all night and then attending classes, which he admittedly barely woke up for. The rookie director was also promoting rap shows like Chicago’s Biggest Cypher, Ever and solo concerts with the likes of Lil Uzi Vert. Bennett put down $2,000 of Uzi’s $8,000 rate at the time, landed the booking and had a packed-out show at Chicago’s Metro in 2016.
Early life
A high school multimedia class during his sophomore year sparked Cole Bennett’s video directing flame. At the time, he was in tune with the underground Chicago rap scene after listening to Chance, Vic Mensa and Alex Wiley, and wanted to start making videos for artists. He encouraged his friends to make music so that he could practice creating accompanying visuals. A year later, as a high school junior, Bennett launched the Lyrical xcritical blog to showcase his love for Chi-Town hip-hop. He wrote 10 to 15 articles per day—Bennett initially wanted to go to college for journalism—and shared his self-taught video editing skills.
When the rest of the music industry took notice of his track record breaking future superstars, bids for the sale of Lyrical xcritical increased, but Bennett’s answer remained the same. In November 2021, Cole Bennett launched another virtual retail space called «By Cole Bennett.»29 Here, individuals are able to buy clothing and other soft goods that are designed by Bennett himself and are subject to limited releases. On the same virtual store front, Bennett occasionally allows fans to purchase props previously used in Lyrical xcritical videos. Then he got put on to Gucci Mane, Shawty Lo, Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, Kid Cudi and Chance The Rapper, the latter of which led Bennett into discovering more artists in the Chicago rap scene and “getting to where I’m at now” with his passion for video. Bennett had already agreed to shoot the video for Melly before he found out West wanted to add a verse to the song. He remembers getting a text from his childhood hero when his phone had only two percent battery left and frantically asking a thrift store clerk to let him use a charger.
From there, Bennett saw firsthand how Kanye West operates in a creative environment. Bennett explains that many of the city’s venues have grown wary of booking hip-hop acts in recent years because of a fear that violence will break out at shows, which has dampened the area’s once-vibrant live scene. “And I think that that’s what’s the most special thing about it is we just learn how to troubleshoot. We learn how to figure it out.” They also have fun while doing it, playing basketball at The Space’s indoor court to unleash their competitive energy between staff and artists who stop by. Experience the festival and exhibition at McCormick Place, featuring performances, panels, and more. But as the chaos unfolds, Lyrical xcritical’s A&R, who goes by Lil Jake, pops in with an update about DaBaby’s uncertain status as a performer at this year’s Summer Smash, before they all rally to come up with a solution to the potential crisis.