Juice Wrld, one of rap’s most promising up-and-comers, passed away on the morning of Dec. 8. The rapper had just celebrated his 21st birthday on Dec. 2., after a long-awaited year of success. According to CNN, Juice Wrld was the most streamed artist in 2018 on Soundcloud, a music streaming platform, and his hit “Lucid Dreams” amassed the most streams of the year. The song has also gained nearly one billion streams on Spotify since its release, other hits like “All Girls Are The Same” and “Armed And Dangerous” following close behind.
The rapper signed to Interscope Records in March 2018 on a $3 million record deal, and later that May was named Top New Artist at the Billboard Music Awards. In June he released the EP titled Too Soon, dedicated to the premature passing of rappers XXXTENTACION and Lil Peep. According to Billboard, Juice Wrld’s songs reached the Top 100 Chart 25 times in less than two years and was even included on three songs on the chart at the time of his death on Saturday.
Courtesy: Universal Music Group
According to the most recent reports, Juice was flying into Chicago’s Midway Airport on a private jet before being pronounced dead at 3:14 a.m. Shortly after entering the airport and going through security, he began to suffer convulsions and went into cardiac arrest. Two emergency doses of Narcan were administered by an officer on the scene, as it was known he had taken several pills of some kind while on the aircraft. He was quickly rushed to a nearby hospital and although he briefly regained consciousness there, he passed away shortly after.
While the cause of death is still unknown, an autopsy has been ordered for the rapper and more information should soon be released. At the time of his emergency, Juice Wrld had been waiting for police and federal agents at Midway Airport to search the contents of his belongings. The officers had been waiting for him to dismount the plane as they believed he had been carrying a large number of drugs and guns. The officers’ search turned up several pounds of marijuana, alongside several guns and ammunition. Two of Juice’s security guards were charged with misdemeanor offenses for carrying the weapons.
Courtesy: Owen Sweeney
It’s unclear if this search had anything to do with the rapper’s death. Just before he was taken to the hospital, police were told by someone close to Juice that he had taken Percocet and had a drug problem. It is suspected that he could have taken several Percocet in an effort to hide them from law enforcement, who he knew would be searching his belongings after the plane touched down.
Juice Wrld was a rapper who spoke from personal experience and also spoke openly about his battle with drug use. He related deeply with his young audience on feelings of heartbreak and vulnerability, and had memorable tracks that have defined the last few years of rap. Hip-hop has undoubtedly lost a legend this week, as artists and fans from across the globe mourn the loss of such an influential artist.
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