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I know.
Search this video
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It might have been a mistake, but you know what? We're here, you know? All right.
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Hey, what's going on everybody?
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For First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by Cole Bennett.
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He's a music video director, hip-hop tastemaker, and the man behind the Lyrical Lemonade multimedia empire.
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Go check out his work with everyone from Eminem to Post Malone and many more on the Lyrical Lemonade YouTube page with its casual 20 million subscribers, of which I'm proud to say I am one.
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Cole Bennett, welcome to the show.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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How are you with ramen spicy food?
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Oh, well, you deserve it. Thank you, sir.
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Um I'm like really bad with spicy food.
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I always thought, you know, one day if I ever do this interview, like how bad it will be for me.
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But I think that I think I think I'll be good. I'll be good. I'm ready. Okay, cool. I'm good. I'm really good. Phenomenal.
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So, I've always had an appreciation for the impact of music videos from the Hype Williams big budget days to that scrappy time when you'd see premieres on notright.
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com to you and what I would consider to be the most cohesive visual representation of today's young rappers, what role do you think that the music video plays in defining today's hip-hop era?
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I think music videos are really important because um it pairs a visual experience with, you know, the song, the audio.
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And um for me, I like to always make sure that the video comes out with the song.
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So, your first time hearing that song is like this experience that you remember being attached to visually.
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And I feel like music videos connect you with an artist and uh you know, they display their character and their personality and you can get fun and bring someone out of their typical world and um I think it's just uh it's it's a moment and it's an experience and yeah, I think it's super important.
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That one wasn't bad at all.
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I'm feeling like I could do this.
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So, like many creatives, I understand that your journey began by just doing, grabbing a camera and making videos, not necessarily drawing inspiration from any particular filmmaker.
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But if you'll humor me, what I want to do is bounce a series of quotes off of you from people who are widely considered to be some of the greatest rap music video directors ever.
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And I'm just curious your reaction to them and whether or not they ring true to you, okay? Absolutely.
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So, this first one is from Director X.
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"Anytime I disagree with the artist, when the project is done, I found the artist to be right, you know, within reason."
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I absolutely agree with that.
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I agree with that because I'm often in the same situation where I think I have a really good idea and I might get a, you know, a little bit of pushback from the artist or may they may have an opposing idea they want to tweak a little bit.
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I think that's just like our creative um engine going, but uh when we make these adjustments, we notice that it actually does benefit the project and I think letting outside eyes in that are so attached to the project as well can be very beneficial. So, I'd agree with that.
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All right, up next from Hype Williams.
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"Lighting helped me understand how I want to express myself.
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The more I worked on it, the more I realized I could control everything about what I was doing with color. Absolutely.
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Lighting uh can impact video more than we realize.
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It can give so much uh feeling and texture that we we would never think of, you know?
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And then one more for you from Spike Jonze.
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I love when me and my friends don't know how to make something.
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There's that risk of failure.
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If it's guaranteed not to fail, it's something you already know how to do.
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You finished on a good one. It's the best one.
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I'd say everything I do is uh going into things um not knowing how it's going to turn out and kind of shooting in the dark and hoping for the best and I think that that pushes us uh you know, and it pushes our creative boundaries to levels that can make us uh excel in in many ways. Not too bad.
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I'm starting to feel like a champ. Yeah.
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You look like a champ, champ.
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Feeling like I can't be phased.
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Someone Illumination Entertainment approached you to make a trailer for Minions: The Rise of Gru.
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What in the world was the process like for getting executives on the level of Universal to sign off on an artist like Yeat for the project?
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It's quite the cultural win.
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Uh man, it was quite the experience and a roller coaster to say the least, but yeah, so I had a few different artists lined up that were more PG and made more sense for this project.
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And then I remember we were on a Zoom and something just dawned over me.
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I was like, Yeat is the guy for this.
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And I told them, I was like, "Look, I have something I'm going to throw at you.
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It's not what you're expecting.
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Um you know, all of his music is, you know, centered around things that probably aren't fitting for this movie, but I want to bring in this artist and have him make a song specific to the movie.
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And I think it'd be a really just big moment um for the underground, for the internet, and just for the movie as a whole.
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I think it's like the perfect storm and it's unexpected and I think it just shakes things up."
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And I pitched it to them. And they got mad. I I really don't know.
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Like this is a big movie.
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Two days later they had reached back and they're like, you know, we thought about it and we talked to people and we think it's genius.
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And uh I am happy with how it went.
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And it was really cool to see a trend kick off around this song and this moment that actually motivated people going to the theaters because what more could you ask for?
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So Illumination and Universal were very happy with that for sure. Pretty cool. You're good. Going in.
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You know, I haven't eaten Well, I had pretzels. And some butter.
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A little half stick of butter.
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My girl told me it would coat my stomach well, so did that.
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But um it's like my lunch and it's a good lunch. So far smacking. Yeah.
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Your eyes are getting a little glossy. Yeah, listen.
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You're You're You're walking me on this on this journey here, you know? I have confidence.
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I'm just along for the ride, Cole.
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You're making me feel good about myself.
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So Lyrical Lemonade is a curator and constantly has its fingers on the pulse of the artists that are about to blow.
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I'm curious if you can articulate how you sift through the legions of internet rappers who to the untrained eye, to the untrained ear may seem homogeneous. I do what I'm into.
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You know, I think there's been really really beautiful opportunities I passed up on because it it just didn't align with, you know, my morals and what I kind of thought the the business model of Lyrical Lemonade was and just wasn't what I was listening to and I think that there's times where I've taken a chance on artists that you know, people would argue I shouldn't because I was into it, you know?
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And I think uh I think it's just it it all comes from a place of just doing what I love and and attacking it that way.
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And that's kind of like my mode and my approach to everything I do. If I'm into it, I do it.
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If not, then then I'm okay on it, you know?
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Yeah, it looks like a Shirley Temple in a bottle.
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Like a Like a cherry cream soda.
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Yeah, let's see if it tastes like a cherry cream soda. Looks like it might.
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All right, Cole, we have a gram segment on our show called Explain That Gram where we do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram, pull interesting pictures that need more context.
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And for you, we have a theme, Cole Bennett behind the scenes.
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All of the pictures are of you on set, and I'm curious and maybe you have a lasting memory from that shoot or what it was like to work with that artist.
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And we'll begin with the ensemble cast for your Godzilla video for Eminem's side note, an MTV Video of the Year Award nominee.
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This video was like no other.
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You know, it's one of those things like growing up being a fan of hip-hop music, music videos, and just pop culture, I mean, I remember Eminem as being the biggest thing in the world.
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So, to get to work with him so closely and feel that energy and feel him be so ready to just log in all these hours and be so receptive to my ideas and my vision for things to, you know, a song that he had created was really, really cool.
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And um this photo was actually in the the hospital room.
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Mike Tyson was um offered shrooms.
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He offered me some shrooms, which, you know, was a was a bucket list moment for sure, but, you know, being on set and leading this vision was was also a bucket list moment, so I had to pick my uh my poison there.
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Didn't do the shrooms, but uh he was a great time. Dr.
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Dre was uh he's a really cool dude.
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Um before he left, he was like, "I really like how you uh led today and how you um you know, directed this vision and how you how you operated on set."
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And grabbed my shoulder and he like nodded his head and just looked at me for like 20 seconds and then, you know, grabbed my shoulder pretty tight and then just walked off and it was uh it was a moment for sure. I'll never forget it.
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And this one finally from the set of your video for Justin Bieber's Honest. Yeah.
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Justin is one of my closest friends and actually it's a funny story too.
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The AC in his trailer went out this day.
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And he had sent me a a song a week prior.
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That's how the whole like I feel funny video came about and I was like yeah let's just let's just shoot that while we wait for the AC to be fixed and we get everything ready to go on set and we just you know it's a kind of example of turning um you know a negative into a positive.
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Lemons into lemonade maybe. There we are.
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I'm going to drink some lemonade. There you go.
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I like the design on this one it's busy. A lot of text.
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I like text eccentric designs.
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Well it's a big compliment from you. Oh I'm doing the thing. Oh. Yeah.
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That's one of them ones huh? Goodness.
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Question for you real quick. Of course of course. Oh my gosh. The DJ Khaled Yeah yeah. Hilarious. Yeah classic classic.
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I actually don't even have a question.
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Just wanted to point that out.
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Put the hinges in the [ __ ] boy's hands. Drop them in. Drop them in.
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So a quote of yours that really resonates with me comes from a 2018 interview that you did with Complex where you said eventually I'll be old and not in tune with things.
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I'm going to be an old dude who people aren't going to look to for new music.
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Does that kind of perspective does that make you more terrified about the future or is it actually kind of comforting? I think it's comforting. I did too.
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We just need to be honest with ourselves and uh I think that you know you can only have your hand on the to of something or a finger on the pulse.
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pulse. Finger on the pulse, finger on the pulse something for so long and um you know, I plan to graduate from this and and get into other things and have new passions and you know, explore new worlds and be the tastemaker within that and I'll always be
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within the space of music, but I also have to understand that there's going to be people that come after me and uh you know, I want to inspire those generations and give them give them the tools to be able to do what I did and you know, just like the people before me did for me. And uh that's the whole name of the
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And uh that's the whole name of the game.
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I think people that try to hold on to something for too long get a little burnt out, so you have to be honest with yourself and you got to be honest with just how the game works. Karma sauce.
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I don't know how I feel about that. Yeah.
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We're in that part of the show.
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Yeah, we're getting there. But still going back in. I'm a bad guy.
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So one of my ulterior motives in booking this interview is to ensure that I get a tour of Lyrical Lemonade HQ next time I'm home in Chicago.
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What's the holiest of holy grails on display in your nostalgia room?
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Uh so that nostalgia room is a room that I built um that is like a place that anyone in the office can escape to and relax a little bit, get their mind off things, look around and have that nostalgic feeling, which I think is a feeling that brings us joy and creativity and calmness.
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Some of my favorite things in there in that room would be um all uh Simpson's stuff.
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Got a like a old Tupac toy. Uh and then my old toys.
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I keep them all in the package.
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Just you know, go and look at the dates that they released and I love um Oh my goodness, man. I know. I know. You know, I don't know.
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I like I like a lot of stuff in that room.
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What's the most talent that you've ever had on the court at one time in the custom basketball court at Lyrical Lemonade HQ? Oh, man.
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You can imagine what Jack Harlow versus Maxo Kream looks like.
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That's my favorite moment.
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And then you once said, "I'll never understand why people have a problem with Birkenstocks."
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Can you detail what it is about Birks that makes it the perfect shoe for you?
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Man, I once heard a quote about style.
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It said if you're comfortable, then you're stylish.
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I like being comfortable. Therefore, I'm stylish.
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That's why we wear Birkenstocks. Wow.
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I heard this next one's really bad.
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Well, what you heard is true.
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Cole, I'm not going to lie to you.
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This is the bomb beyond insanity.
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Where is going to That's it?
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You know, I'm just I'm on your schedule here.
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I'm just take a small bite out of this. Yeah. Me, too. That's all it takes.
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Well, not that small bite.
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I didn't mean for it to be that big. You know what? Yeah.
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I'm going for another bite. Woah. You have to, you, too.
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I'm going with you, then. Organic. Respect.
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I'm going to do what I got to do it properly. Yeah. You got to. We're in it. We're in it. We're super in it. I know.
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It might have been a mistake, but you know what? We're here, you know? All right.
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So, there's a video on maxpreps.
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com showing off your highlights as a running back for the Plano High Reapers.
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What would you say is the crowning achievement of your Friday Night Lights career?
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Was it beating Sandwich High Indians 36 to 7 in the 2013 IHSA playoffs? You crazy. Man. Can I pop open the milk? Yeah, yeah.
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Should I do it or I do it? Yeah, go ahead. It's all you.
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And then just be careful, you know?
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Sometimes when people drink too much milk, that becomes like a worse problem than the hot sauce, you know? Water. Yeah, maybe.
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And then your hometown of Plano stood in for Smallville, Kansas in the superhero movie Man of Steel. Yeah.
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Do you have any memories of the last son of Krypton's takeover of downtown?
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Yeah, I do remember that. It was crazy.
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They took over downtown Plano.
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It was like fake decals on the the windows, all this Smallville-themed stuff.
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They did casting calls, so all my friends and I would try to get in the movie.
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Got to send in headshots and do little interviews and such. And uh big moment. I remember that. How are you doing? I'm struggling. I love to hear that.
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Um It's a shared pain that we're going through right now.
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Cuz I'm hurting right now. I know. Pucker butt? Yeah.
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I don't know how if I like how that sounds. Let's do what we did. it. We got it. Got this. Still going in. I got to catch up.
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I thought I didn't get a good nibble that first time.
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Can you draw back the curtain on what it's like to have dinner at Diddy's house?
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Like, can you paint the picture for me in my brain?
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Yeah, so Diddy FaceTimes me one night.
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And uh he's like pitching a few ideas, things we could work on.
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I was thrilled, of course.
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I was waiting for that moment, you know, to get the Diddy cosign.
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And uh he's like, "When are you in LA next?"
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And I was like, "I'm actually in LA right now, but I go back to Chicago tomorrow."
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And uh he's like, "Look, man, I don't want to put the Puffy pressure on you, but why don't you stay another day and do dinner?" Forgot what we ate. It was good, though.
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I was some sort of chicken.
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And uh played me a lot of music. Talked a lot of ideas. Gave me a lot of game. Spoken a lot of history. Oh my goodness.
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He called me the uh looked at me. He laughed. I said, "Man."
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He said, "You're like the white Puff." Oh, [ __ ] So, yeah.
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I I appreciate Puff more than I could express. All right, Cole Bennett.
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If you made it this far, might as well top it off correct. go. Yeah. The bomb. The bomb, actually. It It was here.
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And it like worked it it works its way up your face.
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Like, right now it's in my nose. Right.
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But like I can feel it in my skin working up my face. It's crazy. How much you put on? I went a little crazy.
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Try not to do this much, but it's hard to tell, you know, sometimes you just turn up. to match your energy.
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I said if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it proper.
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You do it proper all the time.
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I got to I got to keep up. Salute. I'm not going to lie.
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The The Bomb almost took me out. Yeah. But we're still here. We're still That's good. That's good. That's good. That's good.
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You You got to You got to put it away. Yeah. Here. Here. Here. Here.
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Maybe I should take Cheers, Cole. Cheers. I know. Yeah.
20:01
You can tell me about that.
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I mean, you're looking at me like it's my fault, but I feel like you wanted to take another bite of The Bomb.
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You're like, you got to match.
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You know, I feel like I should be giving you that look.
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Actually, I'm not going to lie. Felt way worse.
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Like immediately after the bite. Yep.
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But it's not as bad as you think. It settles in.
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Hopefully, it's not an eye of the storm situation, you know, where it comes back and builds.
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But don't worry cuz there's a nice long You got to answer this question.
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Foreshadowing that happens.
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We've reached the end of our journey through the Hot Ones Gauntlet.
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And to close things out, we're basically going to squeeze whatever energy you have left while that brain soaks in hot sauce.
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And we can call this an unofficial list, but I am curious.
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The Cole Bennett Mount Rushmore of Chicago rap music videos.
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The four most iconic Chicago rap music videos of all time in your opinion. That's a great question.
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Um Don't like Chief Keef.
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You could be Don't Like or Love Sosa. You could go either way. This is Twisted video. Overnight Celebrity.
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This video with Chance the Rapper is called Family.
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And then for the fourth, we're going to do the wire.
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All right, well, we set it in stone.
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Call Benet's Mount Rushmore of Chicago rap music videos, and look at you.
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Walked in not a hot sauce guy.
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You said you'd be horrible out here, but here you are taking extra bites of the bomb and drenching the last wing in the last dab.
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Now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you.
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This camera, this camera, this camera.
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Let the people know what you have going on in your life.
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I'm just I'm just enjoying myself. I'm I'm really happy. I'm feeling creative.
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Working on a few things, a lot of amazing projects.
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Not even going to speak on cuz I don't want to sound like I'm plugging anything. Just know it's coming.
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It's going to be powerful, impactful.
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And uh yeah, I'm excited. Life's good. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Had a great time. Brutal.
22:07
So cool to chat with you here, man. Oh, thank you, man.
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What was uh what was your favorite sauce? I [ __ ] with Pico Rico. Yeah, me too. That's like my favorite.
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Yeah, Pico Rico is a great time.
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It's like Thank you so much. No problem.
22:24
Uh yeah, give me a good one.
22:29
Hey, what's going on, Hot Ones fans?
22:30
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