Rapper Juice WRLD dead at 21
Chicago-area musician had 'medical emergency' at airport
Rapper Juice WRLD, who launched his career on SoundCloud before becoming a streaming juggernaut and rose to the top of the charts with the Sting-sampled hit Lucid Dreams, died Sunday after a "medical emergency" at Chicago's Midway International Airport.
The rapper, whose legal name was Jarad A. Higgins, was 21. Authorities have not released details about his cause of death. The Cook County medical examiner's office was notified of Higgin's death Sunday morning, according to office spokeswoman Natalia Derevyanny, who said an autopsy would likely take place Monday.
Chicago police launched a death investigation after a 21-year-old male experiencing a "medical emergency" was transported from Midway to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said the man experienced cardiac arrest and was taken to a hospital from a small hangar at Midway, away from the main terminal, where private planes land.
The artist, who was named top new artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in May, lived in the Chicago suburb of Homewood where he stood out as a musician early on. Juice WRLD turned 21 only days earlier. He was two years out of high school. Like a good number of young hip-hop performers, Juice WRLD blended rapping and singing in his songs, sometimes mumbling words and focusing more on melody.
Lucid Dreams sampled Sting
His hit Lucid Dreams, which heavily samples Sting's 1993 song Shape of My Heart, was a six-times platinum success and reached No. 2 on the all-genre Hot 100 chart. It reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts.
"I was very impressed by what he put on top of (my version)," Sting told The Associated Press this year. "It's a really good song."
Juice WRLD got his start on the music sharing platform SoundCloud before signing to a record label and finding major success on streaming services. His major-label debut album, Goodbye & Good Riddance, was a platinum success.
It featured the hit All Girls Are the Same, which gained platinum status, alongside seven more platinum hits including Armed & Dangerous, Robbery, Fine China and Legends, which features the lyrics: "What's the 27 Club?/We ain't making it past 21."
High school remembers him as 'caring and outgoing'
He's had 10 songs reach gold status and also had success with 2018's Wrld on Drugs, a collaborative album with rapper-singer-producer Future. His second album, Death Race for Love, debuted on top of the Billboard charts this year and his most recent single, Bandit with YoungBoy Never Broke Again, reached the Top 10 of the pop charts in October.
He is remembered by his teachers and staff as being a brilliant and creative student.- Spokesperson at Juice WRLD's Chicago-area high school
Juice WRLD graduated in 2017 from Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School outside Chicago, where he gained a reputation as a talented musician among the nearly 3,000 students.
School officials said Sunday that they would offer counseling services for students affected by his death.
"He is remembered by his teachers and staff as being a brilliant and creative student. Jared was extraordinarily talented in music and played many instruments," said school spokeswoman Jodi Bryant. "He was a caring and outgoing person who always tried to reach out to others while at the same time he was introspective and had a great sense of humour."
Canadian superstar Drake said he'd "like to see all the younger talent live longer" in a post on Instagram Sunday.
"I hate waking up hearing another story filled with blessings was cut short," the caption said alongside a photo of Juice WRLD.
With files from CBC News