1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: Juice World are insane. He started popping prescription pills and 3 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: experimenting with lean, a toxic combination of cough syrup, soda, 4 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: and candy, in the sixth grade. His career caught the 5 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: eye of the FBI when he was just twenty years old. 6 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,199 Speaker 1: His passing is one of the most sudden, tragic, and 7 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: graphic celebrity deaths in recent memory. And when Juice World died, 8 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: he left a vault of two thousand songs behind, each 9 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: a new entry in the then burgeoning genre of emo wrap. 10 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: His music helped hit the reset button on popular music, 11 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: transforming a once bubbly genre into an all consuming wormhole 12 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: of depression, tension, and heartache. But even when it was melancholy, 13 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: Juice World made great music. Unlike that loop I played 14 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: for you at the top of the show. That wasn't 15 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: great music. That was a preset loop from my melotron 16 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: called Reggae All Day MK One. I played you that 17 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: loop because I can't afford the rights to nice for 18 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: what by Drake? And why would I play you that 19 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: specific slice of snapin fabo cheese? Could I afford it 20 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: because that was the number one song in America on 21 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: May fourth, twenty eighteen, and that was the day the 22 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,759 Speaker 1: Juice World re released his moody magnum Opus Lucid Dreams, 23 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: establishing himself as gen Z's new spokesperson, a spokesperson whose 24 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: star power would burn bright but ultimately be snuffed out 25 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: far too soon. On this episode, a whole lot of 26 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: lean prescription pills ever watching Eyes of the FBI and 27 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: the tragic death of Juice World. I'm Jake Brennan, and 28 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: this this disgraceland. The airfield at the Chicago Midway National 29 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: Airport was quiet on the morning of December eighth, twenty nineteen. 30 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: Winter winds howled, red eye flights coasted in past midnight 31 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: descended in the frigid December air. The stillness made it 32 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: easy for the Feds to spot Juice World's jet when 33 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: it arrived. Alongside members of the Chicago Police Force. Federal 34 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: agents were biding their time at the gate. The rapper 35 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: born Jared Anthony Higgins would be there with his entourage 36 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: any minute, now, returning to Illinois for a belated twenty 37 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: first birthday celebration in his home city. Keyword celebration. He 38 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: was here to party, and certainly he had brought some 39 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: party with him from Los Angeles. That's what the FEDS 40 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: were hoping. 41 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 2: At least. 42 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: Passed brushes with Juice World at various airports had raised 43 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: serious suspicions about the young rapper, and they expected him 44 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: to be transporting the legal drugs. That morning, Canine shifted 45 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: around eagerly as authorities watched Juice World's private jet pull 46 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: up to the gate. Before Juice World and his entourage 47 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: could even deplane, a cop and his furry best friend 48 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: were scouring the cabin. Almost immediately, the canine gave the affirmative, 49 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: and that was all the thought already needed to start 50 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: ripping open suitcases. As Juice World and his crew stepped 51 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: onto the terminal, the Feds lasered in on the baggage cart. 52 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: They tore bags from it, unzipped pockets, dumped out compartments, 53 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: rifled through wardrobes. It didn't take long before they found 54 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: what they were looking for. Forty one vacuum sealed bags 55 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:26,679 Speaker 1: of marijuana, seventy pounds total. But there was more. Six 56 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: bottles of prescription strength cody and cough syrup, a forty 57 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: caliber pistol two nine millimeters, plus a high capacity ammunition 58 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: magazine and metal piercing bullets to boot jackpot. Mccops poured 59 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: over their wealth of contraband. The late night's takeout had 60 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: been a success. But while the police were busy tallying 61 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: the contraband, something far more urgent was going down that 62 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: would demand their immediate attention. Call an ambulance, I said, 63 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: Call a fucking ambulance. Juice World's girlfriend was an hysteric 64 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: in a nearby hallway at the terminal. Juice World convulsed 65 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: on the cold tile floor. His body had started to 66 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: seize minutes earlier and wasn't showing any signs of stopping. 67 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: His arms jerked one way, legs jerked another. The whites 68 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: of his eyes went belly up. His blonde tipped dreads 69 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: bounced around as his head lulled to and fro with 70 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: each jagged movement. Blood oozed from between his lips, and 71 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 1: no matter how much his girlfriend screamed and shook his 72 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: limp body, Juice World wasn't responding. Someone claimed a stretcher 73 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: was on the way. Supposedly some narcan too, but the 74 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:46,479 Speaker 1: light in Juice World's universe had already started to fade. 75 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: It looked like candy, smelled like candy. He was literally 76 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: made with candy, So why did the cup of lean 77 00:05:54,360 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: in his hand repulse? Juice World aka Jared Perhaps twelve 78 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: year old palate wasn't refined enough yet. He lifted the 79 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: glass to his face and took another whiff. He knew 80 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: he had to drink it. This has been his idea, 81 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: after all. One of his schoolmates egged him on as 82 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: they crouched behind a fly covered dumpster in their school's 83 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: parking lot. Enough already drink it. But you never been 84 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: sick before. Sicker than all you motherfuckers, Jared said, before 85 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,599 Speaker 1: downing the cup In one swig. He felt the drink 86 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: slog down his throat, and then he wiped the remaining 87 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:34,039 Speaker 1: purple goo from his lips. It tasted, as advertised, just 88 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: like what you'd expect from a tangy mixture of prescription 89 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: coughs here of soda and hard candy. Like Robotustin fucked 90 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: a jolly rancher. Jared set the cup down wordlessly, chest 91 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,719 Speaker 1: puffed out with preteen of cheesemo is it to say there? 92 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: As his friends poured out more of the purple potion 93 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: to share amongst themselves. Jared rested his back against the 94 00:06:55,720 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: rusty dumpster, waiting, anticipating his body to go slack at 95 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 1: any moment, just like the songs described, or at least 96 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: that's how he remembered them. Every rap song Jared heard 97 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: he had to commit to memory because hip hop wasn't 98 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: hip in the Higgins household. In fact, it was flat 99 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: out band. Classic rock was cool and gospel absolutely, but 100 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: his single, strict Christian mother didn't tolerate the vulgar language 101 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: he heard in rap, all those swears and references condoning 102 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: bad behavior, bad behavior like drinking lean. Everything Jared learned 103 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 1: about the world of hip hop he had to learn 104 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: away from home. His cousins were his main teachers, stealing 105 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: him away to sneak in secret listening sessions. Meek Mill, Cameron, 106 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: Lil Wayne, Cassidy, Geezy, Gucci May, Chief, Keith. These rappers 107 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: were all part of juice world's hush hush education. When 108 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: his cousin's hip play, Jared would hang on every bar, 109 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: study their flow, memorize as much as he could to 110 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,559 Speaker 1: keep it fresh for later. Back at home, He'd rapped 111 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: to himself, mumbling under his breath, But when he couldn't 112 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: remember the lyrics, he'd fill in his own on the spot, 113 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: and half the time they were better than the real verse. Anyways. 114 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: His most recent discovery was a rapper named Future Future 115 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: rapped the lot about lean a lot. He rapped about 116 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: popping percocets too. That's what inspired Jared to seek it 117 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: out that afternoon after school in the sixth grade. You 118 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: guys like future, he asked, still awaiting the high. You 119 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: mean odd Future the group. One friend answered, what, no 120 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: future Man, but the suggestion moved into Google Odd Future too. 121 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: He found a level of talent and darkness he hadn't 122 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: been prepared for. In the quirky up and coming rap 123 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: collective from Los Angeles, their morbid mottos spelled out their 124 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,560 Speaker 1: attitude Odd Future Wolfgang kill them all. That shit was 125 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:04,599 Speaker 1: downright eerie. A rapper named Tyler the Creator, seemed to 126 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 1: be one of the ringleaders of the group. A menace 127 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 1: of an MC. He wrapped about slitting his wrists, made 128 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: skits out of harassing a therapist called himself Satan's Son. 129 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: He harnessed the dreadful depths of depression. Unlike anyone Jared 130 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: had ever heard before. Tyler the Creator did it better 131 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: than even the Emo. Jared like to bless the fall. 132 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: Blackveil Brides escaped the faith. They pierced, but they couldn't 133 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:33,319 Speaker 1: touch Tyler. Tyler spoke to Juice World on an otherworldly level, 134 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: On an underworldly level, his adolescent Angst had a home 135 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: in odd future. But there was something more than angst 136 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: slinking around under Juice World's skin, a restlessness coursing through 137 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 1: his veins at all hours. He didn't have a name 138 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: for the feeling. Was this anxiety Juice World than Jared 139 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: just twelve years old, He didn't have that kind of 140 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: mental health vocabulary yet. His body was calling out for something, 141 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: but he couldn't tell what cigarettes, maybe lean Maybe What 142 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:10,680 Speaker 1: he did know is it sure as hell wasn't calling 143 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:14,839 Speaker 1: for the add medication his doctor insisted on prescribing him. 144 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: That was a drug he had no interest in. Every morning, 145 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: his routine was the same. He arrived at school at 146 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: the ass crack of dawn, dropped off hours early by 147 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: his mother, who then endured a grueling drive to her 148 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: job in Indiana. Across state lines. He'd make his way 149 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: to the desolate cafeteria opened his lunch box, slurp down 150 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: his cereal, find his add medication carefully folded, and napkin it, 151 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: Swallow it, bask in fifteen minutes of social euphoria, and 152 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: then nothing. Brain dead Gray a zombie for the rest 153 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: of the day, irritable, unable to eat, totally vacant. And 154 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: this was supposed to help him with school. Jared may 155 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: have been, but he already saw the prescribed drugs for 156 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: what they were bullshit. Didn't doctors know a board kid 157 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: when they saw one. He didn't need to be on 158 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: add medication. He needed the space to pursue what interested him, 159 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: to pursue music, specifically to pursue rapping, the very thing 160 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:24,400 Speaker 1: he couldn't do at home. So he changed his routine. 161 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: He still started every morning with his breakfast at school, 162 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: but when it came time to take the pill, carefully 163 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: tucked into his lunchbox, he tossed it in with his 164 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: pile of trash, next to his orange peel an empty 165 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:41,479 Speaker 1: carton of milk. It wasn't helping him with school. Besides, 166 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: if he needed to medicate himself, he had his own 167 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: means now he could rap about it just as well 168 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: as anyone else. And he didn't need a pill to 169 00:11:50,559 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: focus on that juice world. Squinted as he held the 170 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: bright orange pill up to the sunlight gleaming in through 171 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:27,680 Speaker 1: the tour bus window. Colors almost matched, he mused to 172 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 1: himself as he toyed with the tablet in his fingers, 173 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: running his thumb over the raised Tesla logo on the 174 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: small pill. He didn't even remember who had given it 175 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: to him. At this point, he just knew he had 176 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: been saving this particular trip for a special occasion, and today, 177 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,559 Speaker 1: on the fteenth stop of his North American tour, it 178 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: felt like the right time for a little boost, or 179 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: rather a big boost. Tesla pills contained enough ecstasy for 180 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: four people, enough ecstasy to ride a unicorn and taste 181 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: the rain. He had plucked the pill from his collection 182 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,439 Speaker 1: of percocets, which was now a daily ritual for him, 183 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: washed down with however much lean it took to cleanse 184 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: himself from the anxiety of the day, but today called 185 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: for something extra special. As he stood up to pour 186 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: himself a glass of water in the sad, cramped excuse 187 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 1: of a bathroom, the tor bus's front wheel dipped into 188 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:29,079 Speaker 1: a cavernous pothole. The cabin rattled, and Juice World lost 189 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: his footing and fumbled with the pill. Before the pill 190 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: leapt from his hands and across the bus. He watched 191 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: it slide under a nearby seat. Juice World lunged, but 192 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: he wasn't quick enough. His girlfriend, Alexia had fished it 193 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: off the floor before he could. She held it between 194 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: her neatly manicured fingers like a piece of trash. Her 195 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,679 Speaker 1: brows furrowed into a threatening v as she flicked the 196 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: pill back at him. She asked him if he wanted 197 00:13:55,679 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: to turn up just like little pe dead, oh deed young. 198 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: The exchange over the pill made Juice World's thoughts hang 199 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: on a little peep who was indeed found unconscious on 200 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: his tour bus barely a year earlier, and yes, another 201 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: accidental overdose dead at twenty one. Juice World couldn't even 202 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: believe that was something he had to worry about now. 203 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: Couldn't believe that a crummy SoundCloud account had landed him here, 204 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: halfway between home and the West Coast at nineteen years old, 205 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: with a label like inner Scope footing the bill. That 206 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 1: this wasn't some kind of lucid dream, This was all 207 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 1: very real. It started with just a couple clicks back 208 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen Juice World. Then Jared, at age sixteen 209 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: years old, did what any other broke team musician did. 210 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: He didn't mail a mixtape to a record label. He 211 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: didn't download a list of A and our folks and 212 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: start sending pleading form emails either. Instead, he did the 213 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: twenty tens thing. He downloaded some free beats from YouTube 214 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: and created a SoundCloud account his bleeding Heart bars, and 215 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:14,119 Speaker 1: they did the rest. He called himself Juice the Kid, 216 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 1: an homage to Tupac and the nineteen ninety two crime 217 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: thriller Juice. They shared that same juice box fade haircut. 218 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: But that was about all Jared shared with the nineties 219 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: hip hop kon. His style was on another level entirely. 220 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: The pulse of drill music was fresh in his mind. 221 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: That heavy, nihilistic sound simmering on the streets of Chicago 222 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 1: had been front and center in his city since twenty ten, 223 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: championed by rappers like Little Bibbi, Chief Keef, and Little Dirk. 224 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 1: Their verses were blunt, straightforward, like a slap in the face, 225 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: hard enough to knock the lean right off your lips. 226 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: Its harsh quality reminded him of odd future. It reminded 227 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: him of emo too, so Jared, with no game plan 228 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: in mind, subconsciously fused both genres. His music evoked mood swings. 229 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: He draped his melancholy over samples of Sting and Yellow Card, 230 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: and when he rapped his voice wilted a jarring contrast 231 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: to his bass heavy beats. But above all, Jared was 232 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: just honest. He was one struggling young adult speaking to 233 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: a generation with the same soul, sucking, screen addictions and 234 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: mental health afflictions, crushed under the weight of their parents' 235 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: political and personal debts. The tides of popular music were shifting. 236 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: The days of sugary songs about spilling drinks in the 237 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: club were circling the drain. The escape of vapid pop 238 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: had vanished. Gen Z's reality had crushed it. Climate change 239 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: was closing in summers were a bummer. Nothing filled the void. Instead, 240 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: music contributed to the void. The unifying theme behind popular 241 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: music was that it ate, It bled called out from 242 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,919 Speaker 1: a place of isolation, hurt music for hurt people, and 243 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: Jared was leading the trend from behind a SoundCloud account. 244 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:17,680 Speaker 1: And for a while things were quiet. Then seemingly overnight, 245 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 1: things would never be quiet again for Jared. By twenty seventeen, 246 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: Chicago had taken notice of its new Woebegone Wonderkin, specifically, 247 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 1: Little Bibby and his artistic partner G Money had taken notice. 248 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,959 Speaker 1: Jared's song Lucid Dreams, uploaded in June of twenty seventeen, 249 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,680 Speaker 1: had caught the attention of the rapper producer pair, who 250 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,480 Speaker 1: were currently toying with the idea of starting a joint 251 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: record label in their shared hometown of Chicago. They would 252 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: call the label Grade A Productions, and Jared would be 253 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: one of the first artists on the roster. When they 254 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: heard the technicolor tear jerker that was Lucidas, it was 255 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,880 Speaker 1: obvious their star client was already sulking around on their 256 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: home turf, Bibi and g Money started making calls. Jared's 257 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,719 Speaker 1: world grew louder. They hooked him up with videographer and 258 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: director Cole Bennett, who worked behind the lens for his 259 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: music video All Girls Are the Same, and that set 260 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,680 Speaker 1: the bait. Then Grade A Productions called up Deaf Jam 261 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: Interscope got hit two, and a bidding war broke out. 262 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:31,439 Speaker 1: Convenient Jared now using the moniker full on Juice World 263 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 1: to match his Twitter handle, watched it all unfold faster 264 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,399 Speaker 1: than one of his freestyles. His hype grew to a 265 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:43,960 Speaker 1: deafening din In March of twenty eighteen, Interscope claimed victory 266 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,400 Speaker 1: in Juice World, joined the ranks of Kendrick Lamar, Doctor Dre, 267 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:51,159 Speaker 1: Schoolboy Q, the Rolling Fucking Stones, and even the artists 268 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 1: whose plaintive plucking gave Juice World the harmonic basis for 269 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: lucid Dreams Sting. He was now an Interscope artist when 270 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,639 Speaker 1: Juice World signed his name along the dotted line. He 271 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: had only had one live performance to his name, a 272 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,959 Speaker 1: low key affair at a local rec center hosted as 273 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: a party for one of his fellow Homewood Flossmore High 274 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: School students. He pocketed one hundred dollars for the gig. 275 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: Now he had a cool three million dollars in his 276 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 1: bank account, Juice World cashed out a quartermill and bought 277 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:27,040 Speaker 1: himself a jewel encrusted watch. Always a smart decision that 278 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 1: was the only thing that changed. He still preferred the 279 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: studio to the club, still picked nights with his PlayStation 280 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: over getting plastered at parties. More money arrived when the 281 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 1: royalties for Lucid Dreams started pouring in, and under the 282 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: guidance of both Grade A and Interscope, he had re 283 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: released that same melancholy magnum Opus in May, and this 284 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 1: time around it peaked at number two on the Billboard 285 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: Hot one hundred. The song may have been labeled as 286 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:56,680 Speaker 1: new to the general population, but his sentiments were as 287 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: old as Juice World's musical aspirations. Specifically, the line about 288 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 1: taking prescription pills to feel aok. The heartbreak holding Lucid 289 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: Dreams together had long since faded, but the anxiety attached 290 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 1: to it couldn't been fresher. In fact, it was compounding young, 291 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:23,360 Speaker 1: trendy alive. Most musicians only ever get to pick two 292 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 1: of these adjectives at a time. Juggling all three had 293 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: proved fatal to other rappers of his generation Lil Peep 294 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,400 Speaker 1: xxx t Tasion mac Miller, all in their twenties, all 295 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 1: in style, all now asleep in their graves. Three painful 296 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: lessons learned the hard way. Juice World wasn't about to 297 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: be the fourth, but the more successes poured in, the 298 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: more the pattern occupied his mind. The reintroduction of lucid 299 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: dreams what the world's appetite for his debut full length album, 300 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: Goodbye and Good Riddance. Immediately, Interscope put him on the 301 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: road for a headlining tour. He hadn't even toured in 302 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 1: support of anyone yet, but he was up to the 303 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:07,959 Speaker 1: challenge so long as his body was well medicated. In 304 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, Juice World's percocet habit had grown to multiple 305 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:16,200 Speaker 1: pills a day, much to the displeasure of Alexia. She 306 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:18,359 Speaker 1: tried to keep him in check when she could, but 307 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: many days it felt like a losing battle. It was 308 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: her versus Juice World's body, how it was Juice World's 309 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: brain versus his own body. As long as it called out, 310 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: Juice World would cater to its cries. But she had 311 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:35,400 Speaker 1: one secret weapon that worked in her favor, one way 312 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:40,880 Speaker 1: to remind him of what was at stake. Shortly after 313 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: the release of Goodbye and Good Riddance, Juice World recorded 314 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:48,040 Speaker 1: an EP called Too Soon, a ghostly tribute to the 315 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 1: SoundCloud rappers who had fallen in front of his eyes, 316 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 1: in front of the world's eyes. Their deaths had been 317 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: so public that they felt inhumane. They were indecent as 318 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,120 Speaker 1: they were unnecessary, and that was the fate of legends. 319 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,120 Speaker 1: That was exactly why Juice World didn't want to be one. 320 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: The thought of the twenty seven club made him chuckle. 321 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:10,639 Speaker 1: The grades of his generation didn't even make it to 322 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:14,880 Speaker 1: twenty one. Getting Juice World to recall Lil Peeve's fate 323 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:18,840 Speaker 1: was all Alexia had to do to reopen that wound. Besides, 324 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,959 Speaker 1: juice World had to hang on. He had a collaboration 325 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: in the works with Future Future, the rapper who seemingly 326 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,679 Speaker 1: set Juice World down this very path, was now interested 327 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: in sharing the studio. It seemed like the Internet held 328 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:36,359 Speaker 1: only promises for juice World. First the viral success of 329 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 1: his SoundCloud account, then linking up with Future over an 330 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: exchange on Twitter over his album beast Mode two, and 331 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,200 Speaker 1: they were working on a single together first and then 332 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: an entire tape. The idea tickled him. This was success 333 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 1: to him. Not the charts, not the streams, not the tour. No, 334 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,879 Speaker 1: a tape with this hero was the real win. Juice 335 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 1: World slipped the orange tablet back into his stash and conceited. 336 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:07,800 Speaker 1: Alexi was right, a Tesla pill was too much for today. 337 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:19,200 Speaker 1: We'll be right back After this word word word, juice 338 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:24,120 Speaker 1: World's fingers moved slowly, deliberately. He typed his message with care. 339 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,040 Speaker 1: It didn't need to be poetic, it just needed to 340 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:31,439 Speaker 1: be sincere. Much like his songwriting process. He closed his 341 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,400 Speaker 1: eyes and let his heart do the talking. I will 342 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,480 Speaker 1: leave that shit alone for good watch me, he typed. 343 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: I'm done with it. I got work to do a lot, 344 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:49,400 Speaker 1: And then he had sent The young rapper was kicking 345 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: codine once and for all. No one could lean with 346 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:56,639 Speaker 1: him anymore, no more problem solving with styrofoam. He'd have 347 00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 1: to pour out the last of his dirty sprite. As 348 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,159 Speaker 1: Future like to call. He was doing it less for 349 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: his own sake and more for his girlfriends. Alexia surely 350 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 1: would be thrilled, except he had a new boo, now 351 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 1: by the name of Ali Lottie. She wasn't a huge 352 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 1: fan of his codeine habit either. The idea of losing 353 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: her scared juice World just as much as Ali feared 354 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: losing him to a tall cup of lean. The relationship 355 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: felt different. It felt adult solid. It made all his 356 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:29,679 Speaker 1: past breakup tracks feel like mere teenage tantrums, and he 357 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: wasn't about to soil this more mature relationship by doing 358 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: something as immature as sipping sccer to hold himself accountable, 359 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: he made a public statement about it, the most public 360 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: kind of statement possible, in twenty nineteen a tweet. He 361 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,880 Speaker 1: ended his message with a glimmer of hope for his fans, 362 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,440 Speaker 1: but maybe he wrote it out for himself too. Addiction 363 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: kills all, but you can overcome. He watched his vow 364 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: collect thousands of likes. Future It quickly, and so he 365 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 1: could too. Right, he could do anything the Future could do. 366 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,639 Speaker 1: Earlier that year, Juice World had jetted across Europe to 367 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 1: perform in arenas, with Nicki Minaj replacing Futures Slot as 368 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: the opening act. He played shows literally meant for Future. 369 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: Their album together, which they decided to call World on Drugs, 370 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,880 Speaker 1: had debuted at number two on the Billboard two hundred 371 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:25,240 Speaker 1: and hell that was only behind Lady Gaga. The collaborative 372 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 1: album primed him for the next era of his career, 373 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,919 Speaker 1: although these so called eras seemed to pass faster than 374 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,879 Speaker 1: his birthdays. He didn't even have a year in between 375 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,119 Speaker 1: his two full length albums, Death Race for Love, his 376 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 1: second record, had dropped only ten months after his first. 377 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: It was practically unheard up to pump out full length 378 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: albums that quickly, then again, signing a nineteen year old 379 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: SoundCloud wrapper with only one performance under his belt for 380 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,479 Speaker 1: three million clams. It seemed unheard of too. That's what 381 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: Juice World did, the unheard of. The truth was he 382 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,159 Speaker 1: didn't need this standard two years to write another record. 383 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: With the exception of one song, he had Death Race 384 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,439 Speaker 1: for Love buttoned up in seventy two hours. In the 385 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,440 Speaker 1: span of three days, he churned out more than twenty 386 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,600 Speaker 1: songs to save time. He slept in the studio in 387 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: between sessions, and the studio staff had never seen anything 388 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 1: like it. This kid barely needed a pen and a 389 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: pat He wrote out loud, stream of consciousness style, and 390 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:28,439 Speaker 1: then hit record. Juice World didn't know why everyone was 391 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,239 Speaker 1: so surprised. He'd been running his raps like this for 392 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:33,440 Speaker 1: well over a decade, since he was four or five 393 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: years old. It felt like his viral one hour freestyle 394 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: from twenty eighteen all over again, everyone standing agog over 395 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,840 Speaker 1: something that felt so simple, that hadn't even felt like 396 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:48,280 Speaker 1: a challenge. At nineteen years old, Juice World had already 397 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:52,679 Speaker 1: encountered one of fame's darkest realities. It's lonely when no 398 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 1: one else is at your level. Worse, it's embarrassing. Someone 399 00:26:58,000 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: asked for a photo with him while he was at 400 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,120 Speaker 1: the Year the other day, actually asked for a selfie 401 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 1: while Juice World had his dick in his hand. Juice 402 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: World loved his fans, but this kind of adoration just 403 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 1: made him cringe. The sensation of being on display was unsettling. 404 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: He was already putting out more than any other wrapper 405 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: in the game right now, both emotionally and in terms 406 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,119 Speaker 1: of frequency. Wasn't that enough? Did they really have to 407 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,040 Speaker 1: follow him into bathrooms or take photos of him and 408 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:30,360 Speaker 1: aale sleeping on planes, just for a few likes on Twitter. 409 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 1: At least there were still pills. He thought he was 410 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,920 Speaker 1: only closing the door on Cody. The percocets could still playcatum. 411 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,960 Speaker 1: He closed his eyes and repeated his own mantra from 412 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: Goodbye and good riddance. Hold on, I'm gonna be fine. 413 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:56,720 Speaker 1: I'm gonna be fine. November eighteenth, twenty nineteen. Lax Juice 414 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: World's nerves tingled as a police canine rubbed its wet 415 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: nose up and down his jean pockets. He stood in 416 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:06,800 Speaker 1: the stuffy terminal, fists clenched as he watched his departure 417 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: fall more and more behind schedule. First there was one dog, 418 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:15,240 Speaker 1: then more blue coats arrived with more canines, all tugging 419 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: on their leashes, hungry to unearth something on Juice World's 420 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,720 Speaker 1: private jet. But this wasn't just the TSA. The men 421 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: currently boarding the private jet instead of Juice World's entourage, 422 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,080 Speaker 1: were customs agents. Those guys would book you over farm plants, 423 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:34,119 Speaker 1: let alone illegal drugs. Juice World should have been in 424 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 1: the year by now, soaring over the Pacific Ocean towards Australia, 425 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 1: he had a set booked for Spilt Milk Festival in Canberra, 426 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: along with the headline show in West Melbourne. Of course, 427 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 1: he had packed accordingly to keep him comfortable for the 428 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: long flight. The dogs seemed to know it, and they 429 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,360 Speaker 1: were sure taking their sweet ass time in there. Juice 430 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: World's body called out for a percocet, the same percocet 431 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,760 Speaker 1: that he was currently trying to keep hidden from authorities. 432 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 1: He tried to keep cool, maintain an apathetic demeanor. Instead, 433 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: he looked eerily vacant, checked out behind those moody brown eyes. Mentally, 434 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 1: Juice World was planted in another place in time, stuck 435 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: in a similar situation from only one year prior that 436 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: felt eerily familiar, and he already knew how that story ended. 437 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:30,040 Speaker 1: Back in twenty eighteen, TSA pulled them aside at LaGuardia 438 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,000 Speaker 1: Airport because they spotted quote unquote organic materials in the 439 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 1: X ray machine when his suitcase passed through the security checkpoint. 440 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,680 Speaker 1: The agents ripped through his luggage until they pulled out 441 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,440 Speaker 1: some pot in a few bottles of codine. Didn't TSA 442 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 1: only pull you aside if you had something that could 443 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 1: make a plane go boom? They weren't supposed to be 444 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: the drug police where they Maybe that's why they called 445 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 1: the real police, who happily escorted Juice World to the 446 00:29:56,040 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: nearest station in handcuffs. It was twenty eighteen. Were people 447 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: really still getting arrested for something as insignificant as weed? 448 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,600 Speaker 1: The voice of the customs agent ripped Juice World from 449 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:13,320 Speaker 1: his flashback You're cleared aboard. Juice World stepped into the jet, 450 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: surprised with his entourage, found the nearest seat, and slowly 451 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: sank into the plush leather. He pulled out a Percocet 452 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: from his carry on and swallowed it before he could 453 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: even fasten his seatbelt. He wouldn't be able to enjoy 454 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 1: them much longer after quitting codine, his prescription pill habit 455 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: seemed to immediately spiral out of control. Ali saw it. 456 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 1: His mom saw it from afar too. She could get 457 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 1: over her son performing the same rap music that was 458 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,000 Speaker 1: once forbidden in her house, as she could even get 459 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: over him making a career out of it, But she 460 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: couldn't get over the idea, understandably, of losing him forever. 461 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,560 Speaker 1: Trying to end this death race, Juice World had agreed 462 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: to enter rehab to kick his other drug habit. He'd 463 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: swallow of his pride and his final few pills later 464 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: this year. The facility his loved ones had selected didn't 465 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 1: have any openings until December. With the empty bed would 466 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 1: come too late. Juice World's next performances overseas would be 467 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: his last. Juice World was awake, but barely. He blinked 468 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 1: through bleary eyes, but could see only shapes, vague figures 469 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 1: looming over him as the artificial light of the airport 470 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:57,160 Speaker 1: hallways pierced his vision. It took two doses of narakan 471 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 1: to stabilize him. The first dose did nothing like stabbing 472 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: a rag doll in the leg. The second dust brought 473 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 1: him to his current state of semi consciousness, just to 474 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,760 Speaker 1: waken enough to glance up at the sterile white walls 475 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:15,640 Speaker 1: of the airport. Two stabs of narkan for a handful 476 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: of pills, which pills no one knew. One of the 477 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:26,560 Speaker 1: federal agents asked Juice World what he took. No response, 478 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,800 Speaker 1: the agent asked again. Juice World murmured under his breath 479 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 1: a few bars, a few final breaths. It was incoherent. 480 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:37,680 Speaker 1: By the time they got him to the Advocate Christ 481 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 1: Medical Center, they still didn't know what Juice World had taken. Worse, 482 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,240 Speaker 1: his friends and his family never got a why why 483 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 1: he tossed pills in his mouth that morning in a 484 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:51,800 Speaker 1: rush upon landing. Was he trying to hide them from 485 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: the authorities. That was always a possibility, but the seventy 486 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: pounds of pot found within his luggage suggested that he 487 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:04,240 Speaker 1: would be busted regardless. Yes, you heard that right, Juice 488 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:08,720 Speaker 1: World was holding seventy seven zero pounds of grass. That's 489 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 1: a shit ton of weed. What did he need seventy 490 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,160 Speaker 1: pounds for was it even his? The bags that it 491 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:18,440 Speaker 1: was hidden in had no name. Tax people like the 492 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 1: author and convicted drug traffick or freeway Rick Ross, weren't 493 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 1: entirely surprised with the epistash. Ross later told news site 494 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:29,960 Speaker 1: lad TV that many emerging hip hop stars were not 495 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,160 Speaker 1: as wealthy as their labels made them out to be, 496 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 1: and thus it wasn't uncommon for rappers to sling dope 497 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:39,400 Speaker 1: on the side to snag a few extra stacks. But 498 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 1: no one will ever know for certain. Medical personnel lifted 499 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,480 Speaker 1: Juice World onto a gurney and wheeled him towards safety. 500 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 1: As he tussled through a nightmare. He floated between visions 501 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:57,120 Speaker 1: of private planes and marathon studio sessions, between the terror 502 00:33:57,120 --> 00:33:59,440 Speaker 1: of the TSA and the promise of a life without 503 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:03,920 Speaker 1: any more description pills, without any percocet. He was so close. 504 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 1: If you could just make it a little longer, It 505 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:08,719 Speaker 1: wasn't supposed to end like this. If you could just 506 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:15,280 Speaker 1: pull through this high one more time, then he saw nothing. 507 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: Juice World left the Midway airport on a stretcher, and 508 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:24,800 Speaker 1: then he left the medical center a few hours later 509 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:30,320 Speaker 1: in a body bag. Two members of Juice World security 510 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:34,080 Speaker 1: team left the airport in better condition, albeit in handcuffs. 511 00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:37,160 Speaker 1: They were both hit with charges for the firearms found 512 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,720 Speaker 1: hidden away and the luggage on board. Christopher Long thirty 513 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,840 Speaker 1: six charged with a misdemeanor count of carrying and possessing 514 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,960 Speaker 1: firearm in the first degree. Henry Dean twenty seven, charged 515 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 1: with one count of carrying a concealed firearm and an airport, 516 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:54,000 Speaker 1: and a second count of sale and or possession of 517 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:58,720 Speaker 1: a high capacity magazine in metal piercing bullets. The drugs, 518 00:34:58,719 --> 00:35:01,520 Speaker 1: of course, went home with voice. There would be no 519 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:05,320 Speaker 1: birthday celebration, not in Chicago and not in any of 520 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,399 Speaker 1: the country's hip hop communities, who warned Juice World on 521 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:13,920 Speaker 1: social media he had completed a trifecta of fallen SoundCloud rappers, 522 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: each barely aged past twenty, a trifecta he had no 523 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 1: interest in joining, but was now a part of Nonetheless 524 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: Lil Pete xxx, Tentasion and now Juice World. In California, 525 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:35,319 Speaker 1: record executives at Interscope stared down some two thousand unfinished 526 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:39,080 Speaker 1: songs that Juice World had left behind, each equally fit 527 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:44,800 Speaker 1: to appear on the next record. Two thousand songs Juice 528 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:47,600 Speaker 1: World's crew spent the next six months paring it down 529 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:50,280 Speaker 1: to only twenty two songs for his third full length, 530 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:54,960 Speaker 1: and they called it Legends Never Die, an awkwardly ironic 531 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:58,919 Speaker 1: opposition to Juice World's lyrics from Too Soon. The record 532 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 1: debuted at the top of the Billboard two hundred when 533 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:05,399 Speaker 1: it dropped in July of twenty twenty, logging nearly half 534 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 1: a million album equivalent units in its first week of 535 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,880 Speaker 1: that More than two hundred thousand units accounted for pure sales, 536 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:17,000 Speaker 1: a true feat in the late twenty tents when streaming 537 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:22,760 Speaker 1: dominated all other forms of musical consumption. In January twenty twenty, 538 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 1: the toxicology report would confirm the Juice World overdosed on 539 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:31,799 Speaker 1: a fatal combination of oxycodone and codeine, the same codeine 540 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:37,719 Speaker 1: Juice World had vehemently sworn off just months earlier. But 541 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:41,680 Speaker 1: there was a second promise still intact. When he died. 542 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:45,880 Speaker 1: Juice World was still on track to enter a rehabilitation center, 543 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:50,720 Speaker 1: and the opening was only two weeks away. Two weeks 544 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:54,520 Speaker 1: too late. With his third album, Interscope made a prediction 545 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: Legends never die, but they were wrong. Legends do die. 546 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:05,520 Speaker 1: It's the lessons that live forever in that someone of 547 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:08,880 Speaker 1: a Disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan. 548 00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:22,000 Speaker 2: And this is Disgraceland. 549 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:25,400 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 550 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,840 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. 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