Juice Wrld

(Image via Fox News)

David Tecum, Writer

21-year-old Jarad Higgins (Juice Wrld) died of an “unknown medical emergency”  on December 8th, 2019 in Advocate Christ Medical Center. The rapper has had several hit songs including “Lucid Dreams” and “All Girls Are the Same” which he released in 2017 on the audio platform “Soundcloud”. Juice Wrld was one of rap’s most talented artists and was known for making emo-rap music which is a mix of emo music and rap/hip hop. The rapper said that he used music as therapy for as long as he can remember and he used to get lost in the music. 

The rapper died of an “unknown medical emergency”  at an airport in Chicago. Juice Wrld had arrived in Chicago and federal authorities were waiting to search his private jet because they suspected that he had drugs and guns. Their search turned up six bottles of codeine cough syrup, two 9mm pistols, a .40-caliber pistol, a high-capacity ammunition magazine, a metal-piercing bullet, and over 70 pounds of marijuana. Two of his bodyguards were arrested because of gun possession but were later released and the Chicago Police took over the marijuana investigation. There are rumors that have not been confirmed that Juice Wrld swallowed two Percocet pills to hide them from federal agents. Federal agents used Narcan, a drug that can revive people that are overdosing. 

Juice Wrld has openly addressed his problems with drugs: he wrote it in his music and talked about it in interviews. Earlier in 2019 Juice Wrld told Rolling Stone that he was attempting sobriety “As long as you’re strong within yourself, nobody can influence or affect you,”. His mother released a statement to TMZ“As he often addressed in his music and to his fans, Jarad(Juice Wrld) battled with prescription drug dependency,” “Addiction knows no boundaries and its impact goes way beyond the person fighting it. Jarad was a son, brother, grandson, friend and so much more to so many people who wanted more than anything to see him defeat addiction.” she continued. “We hope the conversations he started in his music and his legacy will help others win their battles as that is what he wanted more than anything.” 

 With the death of Juice Wrld, there is a sad trend of young rappers that have died in their early twenties along with xxxtentacion who was shot after two gunmen walked up to his car and shot him and Lil peep a rapper who died at 21 of an overdose on Xanax.