• Cole Bennett is a 23 year-old American music video director, filmographer, event coordinator, and creative director.
• He is best known for collaborating with many award-winning hip-hop and rap artists, including Wiz Khalifa, Lil Pump, Kanye West, YNW Melly, Lil Xan, Cardi B, and Blueface.
• Cole is the founder of Lyrical Lemonade, his own multi-media brand, which deals in promoting artists, creating videos, organizing events and selling merchandise.
• He has a net worth of approximately $2 million, as of August 2019, from directing over 250 music videos, selling Lyrical Lemonade merchandise, and organizing a yearly festival.
• He is active on social media, with almost two million followers on Instagram, 535,000 followers on Twitter, and 10 million subscribers on YouTube.
Contents
- 1 Who is Cole Bennett?
- 2 Early Life and Education: How an Illinois Kid Became Obsessed with Hip Hop
- 3 Career Beginnings: Experiments as a Teenager, Lyrical Lemonade and More
- 4 Breakthrough: Workin’ It, Hit Em With It and More
- 5 A Superstar Director: Working With Kanye West, YNW Melly, Lil Skies, Kevin Gates and More
- 6 Other Projects: Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash and Merch
- 7 Personal Life: Does Cole Bennett Have a Girlfriend?
- 8 Body Measurements: How Tall is Cole Bennett?
- 9 Net Worth: How Rich is Cole Bennett?
- 10 Online Presence
Who is Cole Bennett?
Born on 14 May 1996, in Chicago, Illinois, USA under the earth sign of Taurus, Cole Bennett is a 23-year-old American music video director, filmographer, event coordinator and creative director. He is best known as one of the most active directors in popular music, collaborating with innumerable award-winning musicians, mainly in the genres of hip hop and rap. Initially gaining recognition with the music video for “Hit Em With It” by Famous Dex, he went on to work with the likes of Wiz Khalifa, Lil Pump, Kanye West, YNW Melly, Lil Xan, Cardi B, Blueface and many others. Cole is also the founder of Lyrical Lemonade, his own multi-media brand, which deals in promoting artists, creating videos, organizing events and selling merchandise.
Early Life and Education: How an Illinois Kid Became Obsessed with Hip Hop
Cole was born into an American family. We still don’t know anything about his parents, which is a direct result of the fact that Bennett is a very private person. Ever since he became famous, various fans and reporters inquired about this part of his life, but to no avail – Cole would always politely refuse to answer any and all questions involving such matters. When he was still young, the Bennett family moved from Chicago to Plano, Illinois, where the future entrepreneur would attend an unspecified middle school. It is precisely here where his love for hip hip would begin, with 50 Cent’s critically acclaimed album “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”.
This piece of rap history prompted him to start doing research about the biggest names in the genre. After just a few months, he travelled to Chicago every weekend with his friends, just to attend hip hop shows. The same trend continued while he was attending high school, up until his matriculation in 2014, when he enrolled at DePaul University in Chicago to major in Digital Cinema. During his sophomore year, Cole concluded that the course wasn’t the right choice for him, and subsequently dropped out. At that point, he already had plans to take over the rap game.
Career Beginnings: Experiments as a Teenager, Lyrical Lemonade and More
Even as a middle school student, Bennett was infatuated with music videos and the various ways one can direct them. This mostly involved fooling around with friends, but in 2015 he started treating this passion as a true vocation. With close friend Elliot Montanez, Cole started Lyrical Lemonade, a blog devoted to hip hop shows and independent artists on the Chicago scene. The city had already given rap some of its biggest names, such as Kanye West, Common and Vic Mensa, so there was a lot to write about. His writing prowess earned him a lot of attention from rappers in the area, with most of them approaching him for features and potential music video collaborations.
Around this time he met Chance the Rapper, but also focused on promoting young up-and-coming artists. To give them publicity, Cole organized various cyphers – in rap music, a cypher is a form of a gathering, where multiple rappers rhyme in succession. This type of performance isn’t meant to be listened to like a normal rap, but instead serves as a way for artists to showcase their skills. On 5 May 2015, he uploaded “Chicago’s Biggest Cypher, Ever (Presented by Lyrical Lemonade)” onto YouTube.
Breakthrough: Workin’ It, Hit Em With It and More
2016 was the year Cole truly became famous. At the end of the previous year, he was approached by representatives of Soulja Boy, another famous rapper. He loved the work of the young artist and wanted him to direct the video for his newest song “Workin’ It”. At this point, he started getting Instagram DM’s from other musicians, asking for collaborations. Amongst them was Famous Dex, for whom he made the video for “Hit Em With It”, which is considered the one which made him a household name. Quavo from the Migos also suggested that Cole should record several tour videos for him. However, instead of just focusing on already established stars, Bennett became one of the most important faces in Soundcloud rap.
What is Soundcloud rap?
Soundcloud rap is a form of rap music that originated on the music sharing platform, Soundcloud. Before the 2010s, musicians needed a lot of money to afford recording sessions in professional studios, without even mentioning dealing with publishers, representatives and other forms of hassle which no rapper could avoid. With this new platform, anyone could record music and make it available to millions of listeners. Soundcloud rap is characterized by low-quality production, murky vocals and punk influences. Cole worked with some of the biggest names of the genre, such as Ski Mask the Slump God, Lil Pump and Lil Xan. As the man who made the visuals for these artists, Bennett is credited as one of the people who made this genre mainstream.
A Superstar Director: Working With Kanye West, YNW Melly, Lil Skies, Kevin Gates and More
Since 2017, Cole has had an abundance of collaborations with some of the most famous artists on the globe. Despite directing all the videos himself, he was always open to suggestions and ideas, making him a pleasure to work with. With Juice WRLD, he worked on a trio of highly popular videos: “Lucid Dreams”, “All Girls Are the Same” and “Robbery”. He is also a frequent collaborator of Lil Skies and Landon Cube, with whom he made videos for “Red Roses” and “Nowadays”, both of which have reached upwards of 100 million views on YouTube. Fans were surprised when, in early 2019, he made a video with Kanye West, which was perhaps the biggest testament to his sudden rise in the world of rap. Instead of just creating music videos, Bennett now has other ventures in mind as well.
Other Projects: Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash and Merch
Using his influence and connections in the rap industry, Cole teamed up with Chicagoan brand Spkrbx Presents to created the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash Festival. In 2018, the festivities took place in Cole’s hometown, which is his way of giving back to the city which made him famous. The festival received rave reviews, and returned for a second time from 29-30 June 2019. With headliners like Gucci Mane, Lil Yachty, Tyga and Playboi Carti, this yearly hip hop gathering has quickly become one of the premiere festivals on the entire North American continent. In addition to organizing events, Cole also turned Lyrical Lemonade into a fashion brand, with several merchandise launches during the year. Each and every batch sold out in minutes, with fans eagerly anticipating more. On 29 July 2019, he released his own (you’ve guessed it) – lemonade, further expanding his entrepreneurial empire.
Personal Life: Does Cole Bennett Have a Girlfriend?
While Cole is a private person, he frequently shares pictures of himself and his belle, photographer Lana Marie. We don’t know anything else about her, but it seems that the two are madly in love, as Cole likes to call her his “ride or die”. He has a sister, with whom he often goes to festivals and hangs out with famous rappers.
Body Measurements: How Tall is Cole Bennett?
Cole is 5ft 11in (180cm) tall – there is no information about his weight and other measurements. He has blue eyes and blond hair.
Net Worth: How Rich is Cole Bennett?
Have you ever wondered how affluent Cole really is? According to several credible sources, he has a net worth of approximately $2 million, as of August 2019, accumulated largely by directing over 250 music videos. In addition to working with some of the biggest names in modern music, he’s also gained a lot of revenue through selling Lyrical Lemonade merchandise and organizing his own festival. Given the fact that he is still young, seeing his net worth rise significantly wouldn’t be at all surprising.
sorry for flexing pic.twitter.com/rPS09losIm
— Cole Bennett (@_ColeBennett_) August 30, 2018
Online Presence
Thanks to the ever expanding grasp that social media and content sharing platforms have on worldwide audiences, it is in the best interests of most celebrities to keep their fans informed about their activities and thus maintain and potentially increase their ratings and profit. Bennett himself is no stranger to this popular trend, as his dedication to posting updates on his public profiles and engaging with his fans is at an all-time high. On Instagram, he has almost two million followers, while Twitter allows him to interact with a total of 535,000 fans. However, his bread and butter is YouTube, which he uses to promote his directing work. On the official Lyrical Lemonade channel, he has 10 million subscribers, and over 3.5 billion views.
