“People become so comfortable with their own lives and form perspectives resulting in them forgetting to look at anyone else’s. That right there is the premise of this documentary – to look at various perspectives which form a bigger picture… This documentary intentionally has no narrative for the reason that narratives create for a molded perspective, this is for you to build your own.” Cole Bennett
The Culture is the debut full length documentary by Lyrical Lemonade founder Cole Bennett. His contributions to Chicago’s music scene have already been significant, in addition to running Lyrical Lemonade, he’s presented shows, countless video recaps and a series of cyphers giving well deserved light to emerging rappers. Read more about him and his work in a recent interview with These Days News.
The Culture succeeds at capturing the present and important moment in Chicago hip hop, described by many as a renaissance, in a way that can only be achieved by talking to the people living here and making it happen. In a series of interviews with such luminaries as legendary rappers Twista, Do or Die, bop king DLow, Supa Bwe, Save Money’s Joey Purp and Dally Auston, Taylor Bennett, Lucki Eck$, musician & activist Ethos, producer Noah Sims, journalist Jake Krez and many more – the city’s music scene is depicted broadly and in a way that wasn’t fully covered in works like Noisey’s “Chiraq” or WSHH’s “The Field.”
The film doesn’t ignore the challenges here, the violence is addressed, and in a very personal way by Chicago Mayor Deputy Chief of Staff & father of Chance The Rapper and Taylor, Ken Bennett, who talks about the loss of Chance’s close friend, Rodney Kyles Jr., a philosophy student at Roosevelt University, and his profound impact on their lives. Even with our many problems, the feeling I took away from The Culture was one of pride. Listening to Closed Sessions’ Michael Kolar describing the citizenry and its tenacity and heartiness, Twista and more discussing our musical past and present, and hearing fire freestyles by Logan and Femdot, it’s without question that this community is still growing, and there will be much more to come. As Cole stated, “Whether it be next month, or 50 years down the road – there will never be another time like right now.” The Culture documents this moment, be sure to watch the film and see the bigger story of Chicago hip hop told by those that are living and creating it.
