Juice Wrld's Death
Early last Sunday morning, after arriving at Chicago's Midway International Airport, 21 year old rapper Juice Wrld, (real name Jarad Anthony Higgins), was pronounced dead following a seizure. After arriving at the airport authorities were notified that the plane appeared to be carrying large amounts of illegal substances, and a search revealed around 70 lbs of marijuana and 6 bottles of liquid codeine aboard the plane. During the search it appears that in an effort to avoid legal ramifications; Jarad swallowed “several unknown pills.” He then suffered a seizure and despite being treated on scene was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
Jarad’s mother (Carmella Wallace) claims that her son suffered from a drug dependency and rapped about drugs not to promote their use but to spread a message about the dangers of addiction. In her statement she stated that “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.”
The death of Juice Wrld comes at a time when many other young rappers are dying at around the same age. Other prominent rappers including Lil Peep and XXXTentacion also died at ages 21 and 20 respectively.
The support system around these rappers has been called into question, and many wonder whether major labels should take steps to protect the health of their artists, even if it has a negative effect on the label’s bottom line. Regardless, Juice’s music lives on and many mourn the death of an artist who had only just begun to tap his true artistic potential.
BY: Arvin Vaniker
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