Lyrical Lemonade. What the hell is it? A multi-media company, a brand, actual lemonade, clothes, lifestyle, all things Chi-Town and beyond rap and hip-hop? Yes, it is all those things.
Created by Cole Bennett, obviously a white dude, from a town called Plano, Illinois. Eventhough that town shares the name of Plano, DFW, Texas; it would be wrong to assume there’s parallells. Plano is part of the greater Chicago MPA, but appears to be a small town, with small town ways. Lyrical Lemonade is the company created by Cole Bennett (now aged 23) when he was a senior in High School. It started with a love of all things rap, a camcorder gift from his mom, and a vision that grew and grew.
If you think of what Lyrical Lemonade’s unique idenifier is, their thing they do that no one else does better is make unique rap videos that have a level of humor and a level of positivity. Cole Bennett shot this video for Drake (which most people know) and an artist named Lil’ Yachty. Yeah, that’s Lil’ Yachty dressed up as Oprah (or Boprah) for their song called “Oprah’s Bank Account.” There is auto-tuned vocals, there’s some of the typical lyrical content associated with rap, but there is also Cole Bennett behind the camera with the vision. He also produces the video which means he does the mixing and editing and is responsible for the final product. I’m sure he has folks that help but his skills are in serious demand to turn a video viral. What used to be my generation’s, Gen X/MTV Gen, demand for music videos via TV has turned to Gen Y’s demand for streaming music video content via such platforms like YouTube, Hulu, Instagram, and Twitter.
Lyrical Lemonade got started by a kid and has grown to be an international tastemaker machine in demand by the kids who love the rap culture, regardless of race, color, or creed. White ‘burb kids get into this the country over. I’ve witnessed being in the crowd for a Lil Mosey (Seattle) and Yung Gravy (Michigan) concerts. The kids from 7th grade through seniors in High School go ape over this stuff. Trust me. Each generation has their music they claim as their own. It helps if parents don’t quite get it. That even makes it more of their own. The Boomers had the Beatles and the Stones. We had AC/DC and then R.E.M., the B-52’s, and U2…then Nirvana and Grunge blew that all up. This gen, Gen Y, has Mumble Rap, Soundcloud Rap, it’s a thing. Who knew what the Millenials had? I had young kids at the time so like all of us we went through a period of life that is best described as a pop culture black hole where our only reference for those years is Disney, Pixar, and Yo Gabba Gabba.
Whatever your take is on the American Dream, Cole Bennett is living it. A young entrapeneur that has helped promote a new form of Rap that has re-defined the genre and made it a powerful force in young people’s lives. What I really appreciate about him is his philosophy, if you could call it that. He believes in bright colors in his branding, he believes that the Lyrical Lemonade brand stands for positivity among a mad mad world. That’s something I can get behind. His family moved to Chicago where he got seriously involved in that city’s rap scene. He will forever be attached to help bring something definted as Soundcloud Rap to the masses. This involves such artist (most who if you are aged 30 – 55, you’ve never heard of) as: Ski Mask The Slump God, Lil Pump, Migos, YBN etc., Chance the Rapper, etc.
With 12.4 million YouTube Lyrical Lemonade Subscribers and 4.61 billion views, hey… billions of teens can’t be wrong, can they? Our generation may not get it and it may not be our taste, but that is as it should be. The kids need to have their thing as they are growing into young adults and finding their way in the world. It’s a circle of life shi-ite thang! I’ll leave you with this, seek out the intersection between you and the ones you love, the intersection of passions. Find a way to get into that thing you wouldn’t otherwise that those you love get into. It is that intersection, that Venn Diagram of love that you’ll make meaningful connections that will carry on throughout life. It’s a gift we can give. And don’t miss this, just go out there each and every day and Hit Em Wit It!!!
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