Rapper Juice Wrld Was In 'High Spirits' Ahead Of Untimely Death
The music world is mourning following the death of rapper Juice WRLD.
Hours after the news broke that Juice (real name Jarad Anthony Higgins) had passed away after suffering a seizure in Chicago's Midway Airport, the last known footage of the hip-hop star emerged on social media. The source? YouTuber DJ Akademiks. The internet personality took to Twitter to share two videos captured by people who were with the rapper on his private plane headed to Chicago, providing insight into Juice's final moments. "This was Juice Wrld as he got on the plane that took him to Chicago last night. He was in high spirits and looked happy," Akademiks tweeted alongside the first video. In the video, Juice can be seen playfully throwing water on one of the guys on the plane. The second video seemingly shows Juice and his crew arriving at Midway. From the clip, nothing appeared to be amiss when the plane touched down. In his final captured moments, Juice seemed to be content hanging out with his buddies.
According to TMZ, the 21-year-old suffered the seizure shortly after he deplaned. Law enforcement sources told the media outlet that Juice was "bleeding from the mouth when paramedics got on scene." The Chicago-born rapper was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill. where he was later pronounced dead (via The New York Times). At the time of Juice's death, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told CNN that everyone who had been traveling with the rapper was cooperating with the investigation. "There were no signs of foul play and all individuals aboard the aircraft are cooperating with CPD and have given all of their information," Guglielmi said. So what exactly did the rapper's travel companions reveal?
What else went down in Juice WRLD's final hours?
In Juice WRLD's final hours, in addition to being surrounded by friends, he was also allegedly surrounded by pills and quite a bit of marijuana. TMZ reports that federal authorities found 70 pounds of marijuana hidden away in several suitcases aboard the private plane. The outlet, citing law enforcement sources, also reported that members of the rapper's team had revealed Juice had taken "several unknown pills" ahead of the seizure that ultimately led to his death. In addition to the information about the pills, one of Juice's travel companions told authorities that the rapper had a "Percocet problem." Additionally, the outlet claims that a bottle of codeine cough syrup was found on the plane following a search by law enforcement.
Juice's longtime battle with drugs wasn't a private one. On July 8, 2019, just five months before he died, the rapper took to Twitter to publicly apologize to his girlfriend, Ally Lotti, for abusing the painkiller, codeine. "Bae I'm sorry I be tweaking, you've put up with more than ppl know I know I be scaring you, f**k Codeine I'm done. I love you and im letting it be known publicly that ain't s**t f****ing up the real love I found. Learn from this everyone. Addiction kills all but you can overcome."
At the time of this writing, the exact cause of the rapper's death is unknown, so it is unclear if the pills or codeine played a part in the rapper's demise.
The music world mourns Juice WRLD
Juice WRLD turned 21 just days before his untimely death. Chillingly, in 2018, the rapper had released a track called "Legends" where he rapped, "What's the 27 club? We ain't making it past 21." He told Z100 that the song was inspired by the deaths of Lil Peep and XXXTentacion, who passed away in 2017 and 2018, respectively — two other young rappers who also left the world way too soon.
According to Chicago's Fox 32 News, the rapper was actually set to attend his birthday party in his hometown of the Windy City the day he died. On December 2, 2019, his birthday, Juice posted on Instagram that he would be "celebrating all week" – and he had quite a bit to celebrate. In May 2019, the rapper took home the Top New Artist award at the Billboard Awards — quite an impressive feat for the then-20-year-old. While accepting the award, a nearly speechless Juice thanked his fans for all the support, remarking, "Wow, it's crazy all the stuff that can happen in a year ... it's ridiculous." The rapper ended the speech by saying, "I'm glad to be here, it's a blessing."
In light of the rapper's death, several artists have taken to social media to pay tribute to the late hip-hop star. Drake wrote, "I would like to see all the younger talent live longer and I hate waking up hearing another story filled with blessings was cut short." Fellow Chicagoan Chance the Rapper captioned a picture of the 21-year-old, "He knows our hearts. I really wish we had more talks like that one night in LA. Dude. This is ridiculous. Millions of people, not just in Chicago but around the world are hurting because of this and don't know what to make of it. Im sorry. Love you and God bless your soul. #legend.
Although Juice WRLD is gone, the music that he left behind will live on forever.