The music world is mourning following the death of rapper Juice WRLD.
On December 8, 2019, the news broke that the rapper, real name Jarad Anthony Higgins, had
passed away after suffering a seizure in Chicago's Midway Airport.
Hours later, 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.
Ak wrote,
"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."
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, quote, "bleeding from the
mouth when paramedics got on scene."
The Chicago-born rapper was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois,
where he was later pronounced dead.
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, and
that there were no signs of foul play.
So what exactly did the rapper's travel companions reveal?
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 multiple pills of an unknown variety ahead of his seizure
and death.
In addition to the information about the pills, one of Juice's travel companions told authorities
that the rapper had a, quote, "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.
He wrote in part,
"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.
[...] Learn from this everyone.
Addiction kills all but you can overcome."
The exact cause of the rapper's death was not immediately known, so it's unclear if
the pills or codeine played a part in the rapper's demise.
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.
Reportedly, Juice WRLD was actually set to attend a birthday party for himself in his
hometown of the Windy City on the day he died.
On December 2, his actual 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, quote, "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."
Although Juice WRLD is gone, the music that he left behind will live on forever.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please call the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Administration's 24/7 National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
That's 1-800-662-4357.