On Dec. 8, 2019, social media went crazy after TMZ reported rapper Juice Wrld (born Jarad A. Higgins) passed away after suffering a seizure at Chicago’s Midway airport. According to the gossip website, the artist had swallowed several pills prior to suffering the seizure. He had just celebrated his 21st birthday days earlier.
More facts surrounding his final moments have come to light, including how community outreach played a huge role in his education and how some of his eerie lyrics foreshadowed his life.
Here are some things you might not know about the late rapper.
Musical talents
Producer Nick Mira, the man behind the track “Lucid Dreams” helped to shape Juice Wrld’s overall sound. But many people aren’t aware the Chicago-born rapper was actually very musically inclined. Revolt TV revealed he started playing piano at the age of four. He’d go on to learn how to play the guitar, trumpet, and drums.
He wasn’t allowed to listen to rap
According to Music Minnesota, Juice Wrld was reared in a home that restricted rap music. While most restrictions come with some push back, things still worked out for him. Juice Wrld was in turn exposed to other genres of music, including gospel, rock, and pop, which can be heard in the music he created.
He would later get introduced to hip-hop by his cousins.
Eerie foreshadowing
In the days since his passing, multiple artists, like Lil Nax X, have celebrated Juice Wrld and his presence on the music scene. Aside from covering his music and leaving photos, nothing feels more ominous than Juice Wrld and his own lyrical content. In his 2018 song, “Legends,” it seems as if he foreshadowed his own passing, when he sings: “What’s the 27 club? We ain’t making it past 21”.
Months earlier, the rapper tweeted that he was done with Codeine. Juice Wrld also spoke with Vulture about losing industry peers to drug use, and the impact it had on him. “The way that you help somebody out (is), reach out to someone, offer them a helping hand, offer them a hug, whatever,” he said.
Freestyle goals
His mom wasn’t a fan of his music
Even though he reached international acclaim, there was still one person who simply couldn’t get with his music. Juice Wrld revealed when speaking with the Gulf Times, that his mother still couldn’t get with his music. She went crazy when she heard it and thought it was demonic. In her defense, she prefers gospel music and was the same mom who restricted hip-hop growing up.
He was discovered on SoundCloud
One of the greatest perks of coming up in an age of technology and access meant that Juice Wrld was in control of his sound, exposure and his online following.
In an interview with Gulf-Times, the rapper celebrated being discovered on SoundCloud, the song-sharing platform. He began uploading his creations at the age of 16, and the platform has allowed his fanbase to flourish ever since.
He spoke out about Attention Deficit Disorder
In an interview Vulture, Juice Wrld discussed the stigma of black people and mental health. He also shared he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and was prescribed medication when he was in the fifth grade.
While he encourages the conversation, he shared some disappointment in the treatment. “I looked back at it and I’m like, Wow, that was not okay. I’m in fifth grade. What am I doing taking Vyvanse and Ritalin?” he said. “How is a fifth-grader supposed to act?”
He was impacted by community outreach
Juice Wrld did an interview with Crescendo1 where he opened up about his final years in high school. The hip-hop star recalled the impact a local non-profit organization, 100 BMC (also known as 100 Black Men of Chicago) had on him completing his education. Juice Wrld said that he used to skip classes regularly, but thanks to the organization’s mentorship, he only missed two days in his final semester.
Putting in work
“Lucid Dreams” — his most successful song — is reported to have been created in 15 minutes or so. When speaking with XXL, Juice Wrld shared an interesting part about his creative process. The artist said he would sometimes record up to 10 songs a night in the studio.
He also mentioned to GQ that he and Young Thug had a since-unreleased collab project in the works. It sounds like fans of the rapper may find little treats of music for years to come!