Keanu Barnhill CFNN Pop Culture Specialist

On December 8, 2019, high school students across the nation woke up to goodbyes and respects paid on social media to famous rapper, singer, and songwriter Jarad Anthony Higgins. We all knew him as Juice WRLD. His death was the result of a seizure that occurred while he was sitting in Chicago Midway International Airport.

Jarad was born on December 2, 1998 in Chicago, Illinois. When he was 3 years old his parents divorced, which led to his father being “in and out” of his childhood. He later moved to Homewood, Illinois, where he attended Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

 In his first year of high school he began his career on SoundCloud with the song “Forever,” released in 2015. At the time he rapped under the moniker JuiceTheKidd. In his Sophomore year, he was inspired by his favorite actor/musician Tupac Shakur and his role in the film Juice. This resulted in his decision to change his name to Juice WRLD. According to Juice, it represents him “taking over the world.” He continued to build his career during his junior and senior year.

After high school, he wrote and performed a song called “Too Much Cash.” He then went and got a job in a factory, but shortly after he was hired he found out that it wasn’t the right job for him so he quit. Juice then released the song that made him popular on June 15, 2017 named “Lucid Dreams” and soon after released “All Girls Are The Same,” which became a huge hit, further adding to his fame. 

Juice WRLD really only was famous for two years before his tragic death. He was a shining star in the music industry, and millions of fans mourn his passing. He was a musical genius who had such a bright future. He was taken from us at 21 years old, which is uncanny because in his song “Legends,” released in 2018, he recites the line “We ain’t makin it past 21.”

Another strange fact surrounding his death is based on a Tik Tok trend where people will sing his song “Lucid Dreams” and have a fake seizure in the middle of it… which is what has been listed as his cause of death. There seem to be several conspiracy theories surrounding his death, mostly from fans, and several questions remain unanswered, but the bottom line is an extremely talented young star has left us too soon.