Juice WRLD's second posthumous album keeps his spirit alive
Santa Monica, California – Juice WRLD's influence lives on after the release of his second posthumous album, Fighting Demons, on Friday.
The album's release comes two days after the second anniversary of the music artist's tragic death.
It also comes one day after the first-ever Juice WRLD Day commenced in his old stomping grounds of Chicago, Illinois in celebration of his life and legacy and was live-streamed on Amazon Music's Twitch channel.
A highly influential artist in both the emo-rap and SoundCloud rap scenes, Juice WRLD, born Jarad Higgins, passed away from an accidental overdose on December 8, 2019.
Since his passing, Grade A Productions founder and fellow Chicago rapper Lil Bibby and Peter Jideonwo, Juice WRLD's former manager, have been making sure every piece of music recorded by the star sees the light of day.
Moreover, they wanted to get it into the hands of those the late rapper loved and cared for most: his fans.
In an interview with Complex, Lil Bibby said he had an intention in mind when it came to Fighting Demons' release.
"The way he passed, from drugs stuff, I wanted to tell a message where it’s kind of teaching a lesson," Lil Bibby said.
He continued, "If you are going through any of the stuff that Juice was going through, like anxiety or depression, then you should probably find help."
Removing the veil of his own battles
Fighting Demons listens like a diary of Juice WRLD's darkest thoughts and most impassioned feelings, all wrapped into one 18-track album with some iconic features from artists such as Trippie Redd, Suga from BTS, Eminem, and Justin Bieber.
Juice WRLD's second posthumous album starts with the track Burn, where the artist wastes no time in pulling back the curtains and revealing his struggles with mental health and substance abuse.
Yet he manages to do so in a way that doesn't glorify either, instead shining a light on the real battles that so many people face every day.
He delves even deeper into the heart of the matter on the spoken-word track, aptly titled Juice WRLD Speaks, providing insight into his willingness to be so open and forthcoming about his issues.
"I know that I'm not the only one that's going through, you know, what's happening. Me talking about certain things could help somebody else through what they [are] going through, as well as me trying to figure it out myself" Juice WRLD says on the track.
When asked by Complex what he thought Juice WRLD's legacy would be, Jideonwo offered up some powerful words.
"I think that he is going to be known as the therapist to the youth that never declared himself a therapist. A person that changed people knowingly and unknowingly, through his music, through things that he was going through."
Cover photo: Collage: Screenshot/Instagram/juicewrld999