Juice WRLD: A Light for a Generation

The Chicago rapper left a legacy of emotion and devastation that will inspire artists for generations, which is why he belongs with the greatest.

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Photo Credit: Amy Ford/NME.com

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When news of the tragic passing of rapper Juice WRLD (born Jarad Anthony Higgins on December 2nd, 1998) hit social media on December 8th, 2019, the outpouring from fans, collaborators, and legends of hip-hop signified just how much of a superstar he was before his untimely death, but the Chicago native was more than just a rising star whose career was cut short.

The Chicago rapper born Jarad Anthony Higgins on December 2nd, 1998 elevated emo rap subgenre from fallen peers such as Lil Peep and XXX to an entirely new stratosphere that catapulted himself and the subgenre into the mainstream, but his authenticity, undeniable charisma, and hard-hitting lyrics propelled him into legendary status in just three years.

Originally-named JuicetheKidd, Higgins first broke through in the hip-hop world with his SoundCloud release, the 999 EP, which featured his mega-hit “Lucid Dreams” that sits at 215 million plays on SoundCloud at the time of this writing. In addition, the project featured the sidepiece-produced “Moonlight,” which sits at 68.1 million plays, per Juice WRLD’s official SoundCloud page.

Higgins would then follow up that success with his major-label debut album in May 2018, Goodbye and Good Riddance, which embraced the depression and anxiety of processing a bad breakup with dark, emo anthems such as “Lean wit Me,” “All Girls are the Same,” and “Scared of Love'' just to name a few. The project would go on to peak at #4 on the Billboard Top 200, per Billboard, but its impact would go beyond the charts. GBGR created an entirely new blueprint for artists opening up about drug addiction, anxiety, and issues that virtually each listener could relate to, and that legacy would only grow.

Four days after the murder of his friend XXXTentacion, Higgins would drop a two-song EP Too Soon, which was comprised of “Rich and Blind” and “Legends” as tributes to XXX and Lil Peep, who passed a year earlier. On “Rich and Blind,” Juice raps, “I haven’t felt this low in years/We die like three musketeers,” which again showcased his honesty that captivated the whole world, myself included.

Coming off the release of the EP, Juice then partnered with Future, one of his idols, for their collaborative project WRLD on DRUGS, which featured guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Gunna, Nicki Minaj, Yung Bans, and Young Scooter. While the project was not as acclaimed as past works from either artist, it was one of Higgins' major bucket list items and stamped the Chi-town lyricist as one of the biggest stars on the rise.

Higgins then released his sophomore album, Death Race For Love, which would take the No. 1 spot on the Billboard top 100 two weeks after its release in March of 2019. DRFL once again featured plenty of heartbreaking anthems, most notably “Flaws and Sins,” “Maze,” and “Who Shot Cupid.”

At this time, I was going through an incredibly dark spot in my life and listening to Juice WRLD gave me a connection to him that was duplicated with countless fans and admirers of his work, which made the news of his death completely earth-shattering.

Losing one of the few artists truly destined for greatness was an immeasurable blow to hip-hop and all of his fans, but that does not mean his legacy ends. In July of 2020, his estate released the first posthumous album, Legends Never Die, which gave me enough hope to keep pushing forward. Powerful tracks like “FIghting Demons,” “Life’s A Mess,” and “Bad Energy” encouraged me to keep fighting. Don’t let your inner demons win. In the end, the death of Jarad Anthony Higgins affected so many people but the death of Juice WRLD will never happen because his music and legacy will last a lifetime.

Thank you, Juice WRLD, for everything you did while on Earth, you paved the way for so many people to get help and become more positive, and I will love your music forever. 999