Rob Markman: Hello Geniuses.
My name is Rob Markman and you’re watching a special For The Record segment, in remembrance
of the late Juice WRLD, a beloved hip-hop artist who rose to prominence posting honest
and emotional songs on his SoundCloud while he was in high school and turned that passion
into a multi-platinum, chart-topping and impactful career.
Rob Markman: On Sunday, December 8, TMZ reported that Juice WRLD was pronounced dead at the
hospital after witnesses say he suffered a seizure while walking through Chicago’s
Midway Airport after his flight landed from California early on Sunday morning.
He was 21.
Rob Markman: Details are still unfolding, but there is already a ton of speculation
about the cause of Juice’s seizure and ultimately his death.
It’s no secret that Juice had a problem with drugs— he regularily rapped and sang
about his addiction to lean and pills.
In July 2019, Juice also tweeted that he was done with Codeine.
“Addiction kills all but you can overcome,” he wrote.
We’ll learn more in the coming days as the autopsy and toxicology reports become public;
until then I won’t speculate out of respect for his life, legacy and his family and friends.
Rob Markman: Instead I’d like to reflect on the time I spent with Juice WRLD in the
Chicago area in October.
Though Juice had been to Genius to film our ‘Verified’ series for “Lucid Dreams”
and “Wasted” back in 2018, I had actually never met him.
Rob Markman: We met at South Suburban College in Oak Forest Illinois and there I watched
Juice greet an entire class of kids who were brought together by 100 Black Men of Chicago.
Juice and his manager Peter listened to each kid as they introduced themselves and talked
about their goals in life.
Rob Markman: This was clearly a young man who was focused not just on his future, but
the future of his community.
The next day Juice put on a free concert in Chicago and donated Money to 100 Black Men
of Chicago as a part of a partnership that he had with McDonald’s Beat of My City campaign.
Rob Markman: I sat with Juice to interview him for our ‘IRL’ series and we talked
about his willingness to be so open and his feelings in his music.
He talked a lot about studying the artists that came before him, artists that his cousins
put him on to, artists like Gucci Mane, Lil Wayne and Nas.
He even got under ground with it and spoke about the influence of MC Juice, the Chicago
rapper who beat Eminem in a battle at the Rap Olympics in 1997.
Rob Markman: He also reflected on his mission to inspire all of his fans to be the best
versions of themselves.
We spoke about that in context to a lyric from his song “Empty,” the first track
on his Deathrace for Love album, which was released earlier this year.
On it, Juice says: “We’re perfectly imperfect children, rose from the dust all of us are
on a mission”
Juice WRLD: Obviously I'm speaking from the new generation of rap, but I'm letting them
know that I know we're perfectly imperfect.
You know what I'm saying?
The generation that's older always looks at all the young people and be like, "Back in
my day, we didn't do this.
We didn't have that."
Juice WRLD: It's always been like that.
It's always going to be like that.
The people that are talking about the young people now, the people now, their parents
were saying the same thing about them back in the eighties, seventies, whenever they
came around.
So I'm just saying that yeah I know we're imperfect, but we still have a purpose.
Juice WRLD: We came from nothing in a sense.
Me personally and all the people I speak for, in the sense of everybody kind of comes from
nothing because you still got to make it.
Even if your family name holds weight, unless you want to just be known as that last name,
you got to make a name for yourself so they know you from your first name and your last name.
You know what I'm saying?
So I'm saying don't count us out.
We never counted you out Juice, and though you’re gone way too soon, your legacy will live
on forever.
With that we’d like to send all of our condolences to his family, friends and fans.
Rest in Peace, Juice WRLD.