Juice WRLD

Juice WRLD Dives Into His Mental Health Struggles In The Trailer For His Upcoming HBO Max Documentary

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This past Thursday marked what would’ve been Juice WRLD’s 23rd birthday. The late rapper died nearly two years ago after a drug overdose at Chicago’s Midway International Airport. Since then, his estate, which includes his mother Ms. Carmella Wallace, has done their best to honor him, releasing new music and conducting philanthropic work in his name. Now HBO Max is preparing to release a documentary about him, entitled Juice WRLD: Into The Abyss, and the platform recently shared a new trailer for the film. The documentary is directed by Tommy Oliver, who previously helmed the 2013 drama 1982 and 2020’s 40 Years A Prisoner, and it’s set to be released on December 16.

In the trailer, Juice WRLD can be seen talking about his struggles with mental health. “When you’re a fan of this sh*t, you look at it from a certain perspective,” he says at one point. “But when you’re in it, you see it for what it really is. I’m still happy I could change the world, but… It’s not what it looks like.” He also says, “If you’ve got anxiety [or] depression, they all look at you like you’re crazy; that’s not how it should be [but] that’s how it is, and that needs to change. And hopefully I’m one of those people that could bring that change.”

The trailer comes after Juice’s estate released a new single, “Wandered To LA,” with Justin Bieber, from his upcoming posthumous album Fighting Demons, which will be released on December 10.

You can watch the new trailer for Juice WRLD: Into The Abyss above.

Juice WLRD ‘Wandered To LA’ With Justin Bieber In Search Of More On His Latest Posthumous Track

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The music world is just a week away from the release of Juice WRLD’s second posthumous album, Fighting Demons. It’s a project that was announced by the late rapper’s mother Ms. Carmela Wallace and his estate last month. “He left behind an astonishingly deep catalog of music that will ensure his fans will have new songs to listen to for years to come,” Wallace wrote in a statement. “Jarad was always searingly honest about his struggles and through his musical genius he articulated what was on his heart and mind vividly through his art.”

The latest track to get pulled from that “astonishingly deep catalog of music” is Juice’s “Wandered To LA” with Justin Bieber. The new song sees both artists wide-eyed and curious for the good and bad things that await them in the future. “Wandered To LA” is the second single from Fighting Demons as Juice’s team released “Already Dead,” an eerie single, to kick off the project’s promotional campaign last month.

“Wandered To LA” comes after Ms. Carmela Wallace shared a heartbreaking birthday letter to the late rapper who would have turned 23 years old on December 2. “If you were here, I am sure that I would have said something like how it seemed like just yesterday that you were born,” she wrote in part. ” I know that I would have told you how proud I was of the man you became and your commitment to changing lives. I miss celebrating your birthday and all the good times that we shared. I have so many wonderful memories of you that will live in my heart forever.”

You can listen to Juice and Bieber’s “Wandered To LA” above.

Fighting Demons is out 12/10 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

Juice WRLD’s Mother Writes A Heartbreaking Birthday Letter To The Late Rapper

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Today would have been Chicago rapper Juice WRLD’s 23rd birthday, and the later rapper’s mother Carmela Wallace commemorated the occasion with a heartbreaking open letter remembering past birthdays and vowing to honor his memory through the Live Free 999 foundation she started in his name.

Juice died of an accidental overdose in December 2019. Since then, a posthumous album, Legends Never Die, has been released, with a second, Fighting Demons, planned for release next Friday, December 10. You can read Ms. Wallace’s full letter below, courtesy of Complex.

Dear Jarad,

When you were born 23 years ago, I never expected that you would not to be here today celebrating your birthday. Although it has been nearly two years since you’ve been gone, I still think about you every day and losing you has changed my life forever. I’m glad that we always made sure that we said goodbye when we left each other because we didn’t know when we would see each other again.

If you were here, I am sure that I would have said something like how it seemed like just yesterday that you were born. I know that I would have told you how proud I was of the man you became and your commitment to changing lives. I miss celebrating your birthday and all the good times that we shared. I have so many wonderful memories of you that will live in my heart forever.

I remember when you found your birthday gift the year that you turned nine. It was a white mp3 player that I hid in my closet. When you found it, you were too excited to hide the fact that you found it and proceeded to share with me how much you wanted a white mp3 player for your birthday. I thought about taking it back to the store and surprising you with something else, but I decided to give it to you anyway. As time passed and we talked about it, you realized that you would rather wait for the surprise than find your gifts early.

You and I would have reminisced about previous birthdays and I’m sure we would have laughed once again about the mp3 player. I would have tried to get as many birthday wishes in as possible like I always did on your birthday when we were together.

You touched the world through your music with honesty and transparency. You shared a message of healing and sincerely desired to make a difference in the lives of others. I still receive messages from fans saying how your music helped them with anxiety and depression. I promise to continue your message of healing and use Live Free 999 as an avenue to normalize the conversation around mental health and substance dependency and help those who suffer in silence.

Happy 23rd Birthday Jarad, I love you dearly. I’m thankful for the time that we had and will forever cherish every moment that we shared.

Love,

Mom

New Music Friday: Polo G, Juice Wrld, Rick Ross, DaBaby, And More!

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Lots of hot artists dropped new music today! French Montana has something to prove to the trolls Bruno Mars and Anderson.Pak’s Silk Sonic’s release already has folks talking about “Album of the Year.” Plus more tracks from DaBaby, Fivio Foreign, and Polo G. French Montana Is Back French Montana has dropped his new album “They […]

Juice WRLD’s ‘Already Dead’ Is An Eerie Launch Towards The Release Of His Next Posthumous Album

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Fans of Juice WRLD are in for a new treat next month. The late rapper’s team announced that his second posthumous album, Fighting Demons, is set to arrive on December 10. It’s seemingly the first of a trilogy of projects that his estate said his supporters would receive in the future. At the time of the announcement, it was revealed that a project called The Party Never Ends would be the first release out of the three, but the estate’s plans may have changed. Nonetheless, new music is on the way and it started with “Already Dead.”

The new track is an eerie beginning to the rollout of Fighting Demons, Juice’s first posthumous album since 2020’s Legends Never Die. “There was nothing Jarad “Juice WRLD” Higgins enjoyed more than delivering new music to his millions of fans around the world,” the late rapper’s mother Ms. Carmela Wallace said in a statement about the upcoming posthumous release. “He left behind an astonishingly deep catalog of music that will ensure his fans will have new songs to listen to for years to come. Jarad was always searingly honest about his struggles and through his musical genius he articulated what was on his heart and mind vividly through his art.”

She added, “We encourage all of you who struggle with addiction and mental health to never give up the fight. We continue to extend free support to you via LiveFree999.org created in his honor.” LiveFree999.org is the organization that was created to honor the late rapper and help those struggling with addiction.

Fighting Demons is out 12/10 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

Juice WRLD’s Next Posthumous Album, ‘Fighting Demons,’ Will Be Out In December

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Juice WRLD is one of the rappers who we tragically lost at the age of just 21 due to addiction and overdose in the last few years. The hip-hop community deeply mourned the loss of such an electric talent, and as our own Aaron Williams noted, he left behind the perfect music to cry to, still helping fans cope even with their grief over his own death.

Since his passing in 2019, is mother, Ms. Carmela Wallace, has been keeping his legacy alive with posthumous releases that honor the young artist. In 2020, the first posthumous release, Legends Never Die, became a No. 1 album, and after teasing a trilogy of posthumous EPs, including one called The Party Never Ends, his mother has shared news of another new full-length today called Fighting Demons.

His mother shared a message for fans:

“There was nothing Jarad “Juice WRLD” Higgins enjoyed more than delivering new music to his millions of fans around the world. He left behind an astonishingly deep catalog of music that will ensure his fans will have new songs to listen to for years to come. Jarad was always searingly honest about his struggles and through his musical genius he articulated what was on his heart and mind vividly through his art. He never gave up and his friends and family never gave up on offering their support to him. Today we announce a new album Fighting Demons out Dec 10th. We encourage all of you who struggle with addiction and mental health to never give up the fight. We continue to extend free support to you via LiveFree999.org created in his honor.”

Watch the trailer for the new album above. For context, LiveFree999.org was established after his death to honor the late rapper and help other young people battling with addiction. Fighting Demons is out 12/10 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

Young Thug Reunites With J. Cole, Juice WRLD, And Mac Miller On His New Album, ‘Punk’

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In keeping with the modern trend in hip-hop, Young Thug’s newly released second(!) album, Punk, is a star-studded affair on which the trap experimentalist is accompanied by a plethora of guests from across the genre. However, unlike his previous release, So Much Fun, he expands the range of artists he taps to help him fill time, including newcomers like ASAP Rocky, Doja Cat, and Mac Miller among his frequent collaborators like Drake, Gunna, and Future. He also reunites with J. Cole, Juice WRLD, and Post Malone after working with them on some of their biggest singles.

Thug, who officially kicked off the promotion for his latest album with his first-ever NPR Tiny Desk Concert alongside rock drummer Travis Barker, rolled out the album in a most unusual way, only releasing one single, “Tick Tock,” and playing new songs at places like Givenchy’s Paris Fashion Week show and in the backseats of Lyft drivers’ cars. And speaking of cars, his release party stunt of trashing a brand-new Rolls-Royce with baseball bats alongside Gunna and Metro Boomin drew both attention and criticism. However, judging from the fact that many fans on Twitter freely admitted to staying up later than usual for the release (midnight Pacific, three hours later than most New Music Friday releases), it would seem that these tactics had an overall positive effect on the album’s reception.

You can check out some of the new songs from Punk above and listen to the full album courtesy of Atlantic and YSL here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.