Most of the rappers on the bill didn’t rap their verses so much as hype up their own pre-recorded tracks. While waiting in line for a food truck at one point, I saw a mixtape CD laying in the dirt it may as well have been a fossil. I was atypical for several reasons: wearing a mask, hanging in the back of the crowd, and old enough to remember where I was on 9/11. Solorio told the Chicago Tribune they sold tickets for 30,000 attendees a day, a racially diverse mix of college-aged partiers and a few chaperoning parents. It’s rare to see a hip-hop focused festival beyond the Rolling Loud franchise, especially in Chicago, but the niche is working for SS. The brand’s blog continues to spotlight upcoming and unsigned artists, a vital curator for a generation of hip-hop that begins with the “Soundcloud rap” wave immortalized in XXL’s 2016 Freshman Class. Lyrical Lemonade has built a dedicated fanbase thanks to Bennett’s distinctive neon animation flourishes and ear for young talent the 25-year-old videographer filmed the clip for Juice WRLD’s breakout hit “Lucid Dreams” and has kept launching stars since. Last weekend was the third installment of Summer Smash in Chicago’s Douglass Park, a festival co-owned by Cole Bennett’s music video company and brand Lyrical Lemonade and Berto Solorio’s promotion company SPKRBX. Or, to quote a beloved Gen Z children’s song, “My world’s on fire, how about yours? That’s the way I like it and I never get bored.” Yes Virginia, they do sell edibles here. Summer Smash understands the ethos of its college-aged target market, smuggling gray market vape cartridges in their Vlone tees and Perc 30 basketball jerseys: Things are bad, let’s rage while we can. The second thing I saw was a kid with a patchy goatee exclaim “They sell edibles here?” at the sight of delta8 joints and brownies for sale at one of the vendor tents. “‘Cause I always want more.The first thing I saw inside the gates of the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash was a memorial: a painted mural of Squeak PIVOT, Juice WRLD, and King Von, three musicians with little in common besides their city of origin and their untimely deaths. “I’m very attracted to people who are hungry,” he adds. While he can’t think of a single reason for his success, his necessary irreverence and forward-thinking have certainly allowed him to keep moving music forward. From jumping fences into festivals three years ago to selling out his own, Cole Bennett has come a long way.īennett goes on to break down the secret to his success and building key relationships with artists. “Lyrical Lemonade having a festival, it’s like the biggest dream come true,” he concludes. “I remember a festival was a goal, but it was always one of those goals that was too far fetched… It was one of those goals that didn’t make sense, but it did make sense I didn’t know how I was ever going to get there.”īennett speaks with a sense of humility and excitement that makes his come-up all the more endearing and inspiring. “I remember writing out my goals, and you know, you have goals that make more sense, then you have the distant, out of line goals that you think are out of reach,” Bennett says.
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