Juice WRLD is the recording name of Jarad Anthony Higgins, a rapper from Chicago, United States. He works in emo rap, trap and related hip-hop styles, and is also associated with alternative hip hop, Chicago drill and East Coast hip hop.

Career

Juice WRLD becomes known in the late 2010s as one of the key figures in the SoundCloud rap scene and is widely linked with the development of emo rap. He is also regarded as an accomplished freestyler. His songs often focus on heartbreak, drug use and unsettled emotions, while many of his recordings are more melodic, upbeat and genre-crossing. Alongside that material, he also writes about fame, wealth and weaponry.

He first attracts wide attention with the songs “All Girls Are The Same” and “Lucid Dreams”, both released through SoundCloud. After this breakthrough, he signs to Grade A Productions, the imprint co-founded by Lil Bibby, and then secures a major-label deal with Interscope Records.

Albums and collaborations

His debut studio album, Goodbye & Good Riddance, appears in 2018 and debuts at number 4 on the Billboard 200. The album includes “Lean Wit Me” as a new single, as well as “All Girls Are The Same” and “Lucid Dreams”. It later reaches 5x platinum status and is reissued several times, with later editions including “Armed and Dangerous” and “Wasted (feat. Lil Uzi Vert)”.

Later in 2018 he works with Future on the mixtape Future & Juice WRLD Present... WRLD ON DRUGS, which reaches number 2 on the Billboard 200. He also contributes “Hide” to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Soundtrack From & Inspired by the Motion Picture).

His second album, Death Race for Love, reaches number 1 on the Billboard 200. It is preceded by “Robbery” and “Hear Me Calling”, with “Robbery” entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number 27. The album is followed by the video for “Fast”. Later in 2019 he appears on “Bandit” with YoungBoy Never Broke Again, which reaches number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Style and influences

Juice WRLD begins by drawing on rock, punk, R&B and rap, and his music is often described as emo and rock-leaning as well as genre-bending. His influences include Future, Chief Keef, Travis Scott, Daniel Larson, The Weeknd, Kanye West and Billy Idol, along with Wu-Tang Clan, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Black Sabbath, Megadeth, 2Pac, Eminem, Kid Cudi and Escape the Fate.

Death

Juice WRLD dies in Chicago in 2019 after a drug-induced seizure at Midway International Airport. The cause of death is later given as toxic levels of oxycodone and codeine. He is 21 at the time of his death.

Labels

He is associated with Grade A Productions, LLC and Interscope Records.