2013–2016: Early career Bennett originally founded Lyrical Lemonade as an internet blog when he was a high school student in Plano, Illinois. His mother helped him come up with the blog's name and had given him a video camera. He began directing music videos for local
Chicago rappers, such as
Vic Mensa,
Taylor Bennett (no relation),
King Louie, and
Ridgio, all of which he uploaded onto the Lyrical Lemonade channel. His channel also featured live show recaps, cyphers, documentaries and interviews.
2016–2023: Rise to popularity and numerous music videos The channel then expanded into other sub-genres of hip hop beyond the local Chicago scene, such as the emerging
Soundcloud rap sub-genre. 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. On April 7, 2017, he released his first short film, "Lone Springs". In August 2017, he directed the music video for the
Lil Xan single, "
Betrayed", which was certified Platinum by the
RIAA in 2018. He later directed numerous music videos for hit songs, which include Ski Mask the Slump God's "
BabyWipe",
Lil Skies' "
Red Roses" and "
Nowadays", and
YBN Nahmir's "
Bounce Out with That". In May 2018, he directed the music video for Chicago rapper
Juice Wrld's "
Lucid Dreams", which peaked at number 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100. As of August 2024, the video has surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube, becoming his most popular video on the channel. He has since worked with mainstream figures in hip hop such as
J. Cole,
Wiz Khalifa,
Kanye West, and
Eminem. In January 2020, he directed the music video for Kentucky rapper
Jack Harlow's breakout single "
What's Poppin". Later that month, Bennett directed the music video for
The Kid Laroi and
Lil Tecca's song "
Diva". In March 2020, he directed the music video for Eminem's hit single "
Godzilla". The video itself features cameos from
Dr. Dre and
Mike Tyson. It gained 13 million views in 24 hours. In December 2020, in his second collaboration with Eminem, Bennett directed the music video for the rapper's single "
Gnat".
2023–2024: All Is Yellow In 2023, Bennett began releasing tracks from his debut studio album, titled
All Is Yellow (2024). The lead single from the album, "
Doomsday", with Juice Wrld and
Cordae, was released on June 23, 2023, and reached number 58 on the
Billboard Hot 100, 49 on the
Canadian Hot 100, 83 on the
Irish Singles Chart, and 92 on the
UK Singles Chart. The album's second single, "Guitar in My Room", with
Lil Durk and
Kid Cudi, was released on September 29. The third single, "Hello There", with
Corbin,
Lil Tracy and
Black Kray, was released on October 20. The album's fourth single, "
Stop Giving Me Advice", with
Dave and Jack Harlow, was released on December 8 and charted at number 33 on the Irish Singles Chart, and 29 on the UK Singles Chart. The fifth and final single, "Fallout", with
Gus Dapperton,
Lil Yachty and
Joey Badass, was released on January 12, 2024.
All Is Yellow was released on January 26, 2024. The tracklist was revealed on January 13, 2024. Bennett went on to direct a music video for every song of off the album. Three of the videos are yet to be released.
2024–present: Films, documentaries and entrepreneurship In May 2024, Bennett announced that he would be stepping down from directing every Lyrical Lemonade video on the YouTube channel. Mentioning that he would be directing only a select music videos a year moving forward. With this, he also stated that he will be signing video directors to keep the story going. Since then, Lyrical Lemonade has signed 3 music video directors – AMD, Diamond Visuals and Reduciano. In October 2024, it was announced via
Rolling Stone that Bennett would be directing a
Chief Keef documentary detailing the story of Keef's return home to Chicago, produced by
Kenya Barris. Cole Bennett has mentioned he is focused on making a feature film in the coming years while continuing to build his production company. == Impact ==