Pandemic Playlist: Top 5 Juice WRLD tracks that'll pep up your day with the rapper's enduring spirit
Hey there again, music lovers. As the world slowly starts getting back to business as usual in the coming weeks, we are all bracing ourselves for the slightest downturn of events that might send us all scurrying back to our homes in view of the all-conquering coronavirus. So it comes as a welcome bit of news that we now have a musical treat for our ears in the form of a new Juice WRLD song. The late 21-year-old rapper had everything going for him, from the lavish hip-hop lifestyle and all its trappings to the hundreds of millions of streams of his super catchy and popular songs. Unfortunately, Jarad Higgins aka Juice WRLD died in December last year after suffering a seizure at Chicago's Midway Airport, in an effort to hide his painkillers from federal authorities. Ever since his tragic overdose, fans couldn't stop listening on his songs, catapulting him posthumously to the top of the streaming charts, and garnering Juice WRLD millions of new fans in the process. And now that we have a brand-new track called 'Tell Me U Luv Me', featuring Trippie Redd, we felt it was the perfect time to roll a special pandemix of our favorite Juice WRLD tracks. He will always be treasured and remembered as a budding young talent who was taken away from us too soon, but at least we will always have his music.
'Lucid Dreams'
We had to start with this modern classic. 'Lucid Dreams', which talks about the rapper's agonized state of mind after a bad break-up, eventually became a massive smash hit for Juice WRLD. It was officially released in 2018 after being streamed for free on SoundCloud the previous year and fans simply couldn't get enough of it. The track actually interpolates another popular song by Sting called 'Shape of My Heart' leading to Sting successfully securing 85% of the rights to the song. However, even Sting was flattered by Juice WRLD's brilliant usage of his original track, saying it was a "beautiful interpretation that is faithful to the original song’s form". Sting also joked that the royalties would put his grandkids through college, and considering the song has well over half a billion hits on YouTube alone, that's a safe bet.
'Robbery'
This dark and melodramatic song about a lover who had stolen Juice WRLD's heart remains one of his most popular hits. It was released in 2019 as the lead single to Juice WRLD’s second album 'Death Race For Love'. The song details how Juice WRLD gets through the heartbreak of his doomed relationship by drowning his sorrows in alcohol. The electrifying music video for the track was released on Valentine's Day in 2019, featuring the rapper walking through the wedding ceremony of his ex-lover, before eventually burning the venue to the ground with a cigarette. It's a cinematic masterpiece that already boasts over 189M views on YouTube alone, and gives a great insight into the troubled mind of young Jarad Higgins.
'Lean Wit Me'
This brilliant 2018 track that explores addiction issues was released as part of Juice WRLD's critically acclaimed debut album 'Goodbye & Good Riddance'. The song's name is actually quite brilliant, considering it refers to a support system and also to the recreational drug lean, which is a homemade concoction of cough syrup and soft drinks. In the music video, which features Juice WRLD at a 12-step support group meeting, we see various scenes of Juice WRLD and his girlfriend in varying states of drug dependency, culminating in the rapper phoning 911 after she overdoses. It's a chilling reminder that life imitates art and a sobering, self-aware look at drug addiction.
'Bandit ft NBA Youngboy'
This sparkling track features a collab with NBA Youngboy aka YoungBoy Never Broke Again. This was unfortunately Juice WRLD's last track that was released while he was still alive, peaking at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The track talks about how Juice WRLD is capable of stealing a girl's heart, thus calling himself the quintessential definition of a bandit. The music video is fun too, considering it features Juice WRLD on a safari boat ride and we see him holding real baby alligators. You also get to see NBA YoungBoy performing wheelies on a quad bike, so it's no wonder the video has over 189M views and counting.
'Tell Me U Luv Me' ft Trippie Redd
Now that we've taken a stroll through Juice WRLD's catalog of humungous hits, let's feast our eyes on his brand-new music video for 'Tell Me U Luv Me', which features Trippie Redd on the chorus. Cole Bennett, Juice WRLD's longtime music video collaborator, has also directed this new partially-animated video. As expected, the song is catchy and infectious, and features Juice WRLD talking about his longtime vice, namely drugs and love. It's hard not to get a bit misty-eyed when looking at this new video, as we remember that he was a budding young superstar ready to take over the music world. However, we are still grateful for every single second of it and will fondly remember him as the inspiring artist who helped us all deal with our pain in his own special way.
Pandemic Playlist is a daily list of songs that will keep you entertained instead of feeling drained while you're isolated at home. Look out for a fresh selection of great tunes from MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) to refresh your mood every day.