Chicago rapper Juice WRLD dead after suffering cardiac arrest at Midway Airport

Chicago-born musician Juice WRLD died early Sunday after suffering cardiac arrest at Midway Airport. He had turned 21 just six days earlier.

Emergency crews responded about 2 a.m. to a private hangar at the airport, according to the Chicago Fire Department, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Juice WRLD, whose real name is Jarad Anthony Higgins, was then rushed to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead at 3:14 a.m.

CFD spokesman Larry Langford said it was unclear when the cardiac incident began. Juice WRLD had been on a private jet to Chicago.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said there were “no signs of foul play evident to officers,” adding the individuals traveling with Juice WRLD have been cooperating with police.

Guglielmi said Juice WRLD was with about a dozen people, including his entourage, security guards and aircraft staff, and was seen “basically convulsing” at a private hangar.

Guglielmi said two of the guards were armed with weapons. The guards had valid concealed-carry permits, but they don’t allow them to bring weapons to an airport, so they were arrested and charged with misdemeanor gun violations.

Christopher Long, 36, of Buena Park, California, is charged with a misdemeanor count of possession of a firearm, Guglielmi said. Henry Dean, 27, of Chatham, is charged with two counts of possession of a firearm and one count of possessing a high capacity magazine, Guglielmi said. They are due in court Dec. 30.

TMZ first reported that he died, and Guglielmi said officers are conducting a death investigation, interviewing witnesses as the medical examiner’s office determines the cause and manner of his death. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, the medical examiner’s office said.

In a statement, Juice WRLD’s record label said the young talent “made a profound impact on the world in such a short period of time.”

“He was a gentle soul, whose creativity knew no bounds, an exceptional human being and artist who loved and cared for his fans above everything else,” Interscope Records tweeted Sunday. “To lose someone so kind and so close to our hearts is devastating. Our thoughts are with Juice’s family and friends, everyone at his label Grade A, and his millions of fans around the world.”

The rapper-singer, who was born in Chicago and raised in south suburban Homewood, graduated in 2017 from Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School after gaining a reputation as a talented musician among the nearly 3,000 students. School officials said Sunday 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. Jarad was extraordinarily talented in music and played many instruments,” school spokeswoman Jodi Bryant said. “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 humor.”

Along with Lil Peep, the 21-year-old rapper-singer who died of a drug overdose in 2017, Juice WRLD helped spearhead the buzzing emo-rap movement, which blended musical elements of emo rock — such as gentle guitar riffs and soul-baring lyricism — with the deft wordplay and crisp, sonic signifiers of trap music. In Juice WRLD’s case, the end product was heart-on-the-sleeve pop that exhibited a vulnerability not always been associated with mainstream hip-hop.

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,” went platinum and featured his breakout hit “Lucid Dreams,” a a six-times platinum success that heavily samples Sting’s 1993 song “Shape of My Heart.”

His latest 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.

Drugs were a common theme of Juice WRLD’s music, with the artist often detailing his use of marijuana and prescription drugs, including the powerful anti-anxiety medication Xanax.

In an interview last year with The New York Times, Juice WRLD claimed he had stopped taking Xanax and said he was trying to curtail his drug use.

“I smoke weed, and every now and then I slip up and do something that’s poor judgment,” he said in the interview. “I have a lot going for me, I recognize it’s a lot of big things, a lot of big looks. I want to be there, and you don’t have to overdose to not be there.”

Rappers and industry insiders took to social media Sunday to pay homage to the late musician.

Contributing: Jake Wittich, Associated Press