Juice Wrld’s Posthumous ‘Legends Never Die’ Honors The Late Rapper’s Legacy
Samantha Colleran, July 2020
I was formally introduced to the music of Jarad Higgins, professionally known as Juice Wrld, in college; my roommate Gracie absolutely loves him. I’m not personally a fan of rap, but I’ve come to appreciate Juice through many, many listening sessions with Gracie and now I’m familiar with a decent amount of his stuff. When he suddenly passed on December 8 of last year due to an accidental drug overdose, it seemed as though the entire world was shaken up by the news. Juice Wrld was only 21, and for someone who was still so new to the music scene, it was such an incredibly sad loss for the rap community and those who were avid listeners of Juice’s.
A posthumous album has been rumored for a little while, but it was officially confirmed earlier this month with a post to his Instagram page on July 6. The announcement states that the songs on Legends Never Die, released that Friday (July 10) “best represent[s] the music Juice was in the process of creating”. The 21 track album features artists that had an effect on Juice’s creative processes. “Juice dedicated his music to his fans and, now more than ever, we hope this album brings some reprieve to everyone during these unsettling times,” the statement continues. At midnight on July 10, Juice Wrld’s Spotify profile crashed, as many people were on the site to listen to the album the second it dropped, myself and Gracie included among those people.
The album starts off with an interlude titled “Anxiety (Intro)”, with clips of Juice speaking about anxiety, substance abuse, and his music, with the head of Genius’ Head of Artist Relations, Rob Markman. Ever since he began recording and writing music, Juice had openly rapped about hard hitting topics, and that’s one of the main reasons people connected so deeply with his music. He was one of the few artists who spoke about his mental health and made others feel as though they weren’t alone in their struggles.
Legends Never Die features artists such as Halsey (Juice Wrld was also featured on a remix of her smash hit “Without Me”), Trippie Redd, Polo G, Marshmello, among others. The second interlude on the album “The Man, The Myth, The Legend” features snippets of Juice’s collaborators, idols, and friends speaking about his impact on the rap scene. Some of the people featured include Travis Scott, J. Cole, Eminem, among others. This interlude in particular made me respect and appreciate Juice’s music a lot more. Listening to all of these people talk about his work ethic, how he could just get into the booth and freestyle over a beat in three or four minutes without thinking too much about it, and could do that multiple times in one recording session, completely blew my mind.
The album overall honors the legacy that Juice Wrld left behind and his mark on the music industry as both a songwriter and a performer. He allowed a bunch of people to feel as though they were represented in the media since he spoke so openly and honestly about his mental health. Whether you like his music or not, you can certainly respect how hard and effortlessly he worked. If Juice’s label chooses not to release any more of his demos or unfinished work, Legends Never Die would certainly leave listeners with an album that honors Juice’s legacy in a positive light.
Sam’s Song Selection
1. “Man Of The Year”: I’m a rock girl at heart, so I was obviously drawn to the most rock sounding song. “Man Of The Year” is the last actual song on the album, and the chorus was such a great way to honor Juice’s legend, “Let’s raise our hands, let’s sing and dance/ I know I’m here to save you, I know I’m here to save you”. Some of the lyrics in the verses aren’t particularly my favorite, but the instrumentals on this song are put together really well and I clicked with them on the first listen.
2. “Life’s A Mess” (ft. Halsey): A bit of a biased choice because I love Halsey, but this song is one of the best on the album. This track was released a few days prior to the album’s release. Juice reflects on all the negative love he’s experienced in life, and expresses how thankful he is for finding a real, true love. Bonus, Halsey’s verse at the end is so pretty, and the violin outro is just spectacular.
3. “Come & Go” (ft. Marshmello): The crossover between rap and rock continues on “Come & Go”. The catchy chorus makes you want to clap and dance along, plus there’s also a really cool guitar riff in the second chorus that took me by surprise when I first listened to the album.
Since it’s rather recent release, the album is officially Gold Certified (selling over 500,000 units); Legends Never Die achieved this milestone in one week. It also achieved the largest streaming week of 2020 and is also the 4th largest streaming week for an album ever, according to Billboard. I guess that’s proof that legends truly never die. Legends Never Die is available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, and any other streaming service you choose to use. If you’ve listened to this album let me know your thoughts and favorite song(s) in the comments!