Growing Up

Jarad Anthony Higgins, better known as Juice WRLD, was born on December 2nd, 1998 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up with his single mother and one older brother and was interested in music from a very early age. He learned to play the piano at only 4 years of age and continued to explore his passion for music through guitar and drums despite his mother’s refusal to let him listen to rap. After getting into rock music as a result of listening to artists such as Blink-182, Panic! at the Disco, and Fall Out Boy. During middle school, Jarad struggled with drug abuse and through this he first discovered rap. As he approached high school, he used his experiences with drugs as well as his struggles finding romantic connections as inspirations for his own future music.

Career 

As a teenager, he frequently began releasing his own music on a music platform called SoundCloud. Initially using the moniker “JuicetheKidd”, a name inspired by his rap idol Tupac and his participation in the movie Juice, Jarad changed his name to “Juice WRLD” to represent his desire to change and influence the entire world.  Much of his music referred to mental health and mortality, or lack thereof. “Lucid Dreams” and “All Girls Are The Same” were two of his first most notable songs. He put them out on SoundCloud in 2017, and the rest was history. At just 19 years old, in March of 2018, Interscope Records signed Juice WRLD that allotted him a 3 million dollar profit. He had career guidance from his brother G-Money, and shortly after his record deal, he produced three albums (Goodbye and Good Riddance, Death Race for Love, WRLD on Drugs) which all earned a top 5 spot in Billboards 200. Death Race for Love even debuted at number 1. He not only produced tracks that were successful by himself, but he also collaborated with many big names during his too short of time in the industry. Artists he collaborated with include but are not limited to Future, Halsey, Young Thug, Ellie Goulding, and Lil Uzi Vert. 

The WRLD Will Never Be the Same

Juice WRLD was flying from L.A. to Chicago on a private jet on Saturday, December 7th. Shortly after the private jet landed at Chicago’s Midway Airport, Juice suffered from a seizure. He was rushed to a hospital located in Oak Lawn, Illinois and on Sunday, December 8th at 3:14 am he was pronounced dead. 

Afterward, police searched the plane that Juice WRLD and his crew were on. They found that the jet had 70 pounds of marijuana on board along with 6 bottles of codeine cough syrup. There were also three firearms on board with metal-piercing bullets, which resulted in two of his security guards getting charged with misdemeanors for illegal possession only hours before the rapper’s tragic death. 

It is no secret that Juice WRLD had struggled with drugs before. He spoke openly about the dangers of addiction and had been using opiates since sixth grade. In an interview with the New York Times, he told them, “When I was getting high at a young age, I’d be scared to tell people, and that wasn’t normal”, and he was active on social media about his girlfriend’s distress about his drug use. In his tweet to her, he apologized for putting her through scary episodes from his drug abuse and said that he “is done.” He ends the tweet by saying “Addiction kills all but you can overcome.” 

A Legend

Juice WRLD may have left this world to go to a better place, but the mark he left on both music and his millions of his listeners who were proud to call themselves fans will not be easily forgotten. His music explored some of the darker parts of humanity, and he used it as a tool to try and help both himself and everyone else around the planet who was lucky enough to hear his message. His heartbreaking lyrics described struggles with both love and drugs and made it clear that fame and money weren’t a ‘magic bullet’ that cured him of his problems. He too suffered from the same vices and obstacles unique to humanity, and he wasn’t afraid to share them with the world. He did this because, through his music, he was able to reach out to those who might not have the courage to find help for themselves, and he did his best to both explain that he knew what those people were going through and that in the end, it would be ok. While Juice didn’t have time to fully realize that message because of the unexpected nature of his death and his young age, he did make it clear that nobody was alone in their problems, and made life just a little bit easier for those he was able to reach. Juice WRLD will be greatly missed, may he forever rest in peace.