R.I.P Juice WRLD

Today is a very sad day for the hip hop community as we lost a shining star in the prime of his creative career.

Juice Wrld turned 21 a little under a week ago. Fans have jumped on Twitter already discussing the unusual coincidence that Juice Wrld foreshadowed dying at the age of 21 in his tribute to Lil Peep and XXXTentacion, Legends, dropped 1 day after XXX’s death.

“What's the 27 Clu-u-u-ub?

We ain't making it past 21”

Both Peep and XXX died before the age of 21. Juice’s passing, like the legends before him, will be felt for a very long time and all the people whose souls his music nurtured will carry his influence with them around forever. At Juice Wrld’s shows, he always dedicated a bit of his set to pay tribute to the fallen legends. It’s saddening to think that he will now join that list of legends and artists who were his friends will be doing their own tribute for him at their shows. And on top of that, the posthumous music that will be released after this day is just mind-boggling to wrap my head around.

Juice Wrld blew up only last year, although it feels like he’s been around for years, he really hasn’t. Despite this, his impact over the past year has been so enormous and in such little time, he has done so much and influenced so many. 

Juice Wrld represents the new generation of hip hop artists. The name Juice Wrld started gaining recognition in the scene early 2018 when he dropped ‘All Girls Are The Same’, an ominous, addictively bass-ey song about being heartbroken and depressed. Which is something that a lot of us relate to, especially young people who’re going through that experience for the first time. His beautifully angelic voice alongside the lyrics of wanting to drown his sorrows made you wanna cry in the understanding of how he felt and the beat made you wanna dance and nod your problems away. 

Juice Wrld was one of the few artists who touched on depression and mental health. For the new generation of young people, mental health has been a more normal and open topic than ever before as it was something no one really talked about in past generations. Especially for men. Our role models in music who opened up about what dealing with depression and anxiety felt like to them was a huge thing and it was something that was felt monumentally by young people all over the Western world. Juice Wrld has helped normalise mental health as a problem that a lot of people face and his music helped people cope with the stresses of everyday life in the 21st century. He helped break the taboo about men opening up and talking about their emotions. It let fans know that they weren’t alone in their feelings and I think just to even affect one person in that way is an amazing feat. A similarity his music shared with XXX and Lil Peep.

How to cope with these mental health issues, however, was more or less discussed by numbing the pain with drugs. I think a lot of us felt that as well because our own individual problems are not just black and white and are really difficult when figuring out how to cope with these issues in our daily lives. Drugs are an easy way out of our mind and thoughts. Another thing that people could relate to Juice Wrld about. 

Juice Wrld was apart of the new wave of hip hop and rap in 2018 with Lyrical Lemonade and No Jumper making its way to the very forefront of the culture and the transition from SoundCloud rappers blowing up to the age of Youtube giving exposure to the hottest up and coming names and trends in the industry. Juice Wrld quickly made his way to the mainstream after his hit single ‘Lucid Dreams’ blew up tremendously, shortly after ‘All Girls Are The Same’, another song about dealing with emotional pain and heartbreak with the fluid mix of rock and trap. Following Juice Wrld, the time it takes for someone to reach the very top of the game once blowing up seemed to have gotten shorter and shorter. One of the reasons why he is apart of the new generation of musicians. Within a year, Juice Wrld formed friendships with some of the biggest names in hip hop and cooked up some of the best collaborations with names like Future, Lil Uzi Vert and Young Thug in such a short timespan. 

Juice Wrld was also one of the few artists in the game you’d rarely hear any drama about and didn’t have any problematic kinks. He was a friend and a great influence to many of our other role models in music, especially musicians who blew up only this year and even musicians who have been in the game for years. For a lot of fans, it would’ve felt like they’ve lost a friend as his music had that much value to a lot of people. His death has opened a spotlight on drug-use and dealing with fame and the pressure that comes with it at such a young age.

Juice Wrld was incredibly talented and the hip hop community knew that. He was a versatile rockstar who was respected not just for his innovative music but his ability to freestyle straight bars for a long period of time. That made him stand out as an artist who would gain status as one of the greatest musicians in hip hop and rap in the coming future. His sudden death has solidified his legend status and it has hit the world hard. As the hip hop community mourns his death, we send our thoughts and prayers to his friends and family in this difficult time. 

We will miss you Juice Wrld but we know your influence will be felt and heard for generations to come.

R.I.P.

Written By: Breanna Tugaga-Rogers

About The Writer:

Breanna is a 21 year old uni student who was born in Australia and raised in South Auckland. Half New Zealand European and half Samoan, Breanna is undergoing a Bachelor of Arts, double-majoring in Communications and Sociology. Currently residing in Auckland, Breanna loves hip hop, rap, RnB music and enjoys watching TV shows, movies, travelling, going to concerts and keeping in touch with the latest of pop culture. Breanna especially enjoys writing and using it as an outlet to talk her sh*t. Breanna loves to always integrate her worldview, her background and her experiences into her writing and values your feedback.