In his first trip to Canada, Lyrical Lemonade’s Cole Bennett dropped inspirational gems at the latest edition of In-Hxouse Conversations in Toronto.
Yesterday, hundreds of artists, photographers, and directors gathered at the Daniels Artscape in downtown Toronto for the latest edition of In-Hxouse Conversations featuring director and Lyrical Lemonade founder, Cole Bennett who made his first ever trip to Canada. Hosted by Complex Canada’s Alex Narvaez, the conversation was presented by CNCPT, a collaboration between The Weeknd founded Hxouse and YouTube.
Bennett’s story is one of self-belief, curiosity, and hard work―attributes instilled in him at home. With his father passing away at 2 years old, it was his entrepreneurial mother who his helped shape his own journey as an entrepreneur.
“I learned from her and I looked up to her in many ways”, he told those in attendance.
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She even played an important role in coming up with the name Lyrical Lemonade, and when his sisters, who also helped raise him, questioned his decision to drop out of school to focus on the platform, his mother supported him. But despite his success so far, including landing on Forbes’ 30 Under 30, something he manifested from a young age, he still questions whether he fits into the conventional definition of an entrepreneur.
Listening to him recall his journey, his personal work ethic can’t be denied. In the conversation, he covered balancing school and his passion that was Lyrical Lemonade, bouncing back from discouragement, overcoming depression and suicidal thoughts, and his use of breath work to cope with pressure. He also went into how he fell in love with hip-hop, the inspiration he drew from the early Chicago drill music video directors that came before him, the evolution and future of Lyrical Lemonade, and his experimenting with film.
SHIFTER quoted on the Cole Bennett episode of Hot Ones
No matter what creative discipline you’re in or at what stage you find yourself in your career, there was inspiration to draw from this conversation. Bennett didn’t come across as an inaccessible and unrelated superstar, but as a normal guy, leaving viewers with the impression that if he can do it, we can do it too. While this kind of content is available online, Toronto creators having access to this live, in-person information is a blessing for the city that will pay dividends for the local scene.
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Notable quotes:
“It’s more about your ideas than your equipment.”
“I look at it as one big piece because they all tell a story together…that’s what make it manageable.”
“Your passion is always going to start out as a hobby…it’s the decision you make when you’re ready to be all in.”
“It can be beneficial but it can also be dangerous…it’s cool, you can’t run away from it.”
“We always gotta put ourselves out there even if we’re not being asked.”
“Free work is a bit part of the story…that’s how you start building your catalog.”
“When you get approached is when you have the leverage with your rate.”
“Going the extra mile is always what I recommend.”
“The money can’t be the motive.”
“Marketing is half the work.”
