New Juice Wrld album includes late rapper’s tracks with Halsey, Trippie Redd

‘Legends Never Die’ from the Chicago-born artist is on track for the biggest streaming week of any album this year

By USA TODAY

Gary Dinges

Juice WRLD performs in concert during his “Death Race for Love Tour” at The Skyline Stage at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia in May 2019.

Seven months after he died of an accidental overdose, Chicago-born rapper Juice Wrld’s final works are now seeing the light of day.

“Legends Never Die,” a new, 15-track album from the rapper whose real name was Jarad Anthony Higgins, dropped Friday. It’s on track for the biggest streaming week of any album this year, Hits Daily Double reports.

“The album shines a light on the collaborators that meant so much to Juice and deeply impacted his musical process. ... We hope this album brings some reprieve to everyone during these unsettling times,” his estate said in a statement that accompanied news of the album’s release.

Among the tracks are “Life’s a Mess,” a somber collaboration with Halsey. Released on last week, the song grapples with tribulations of love, with lyrics like: ”Have you ever fallen head over heels for somebody / That made promises to give you the world? Um / I really hope they held you down / I really hope it was no lying / ‘Cause when heart breaks it feel like the world’s gone.”

The track is accompanied by a touching video that shows a street artist slowly spray-painting a canvas that, by song’s end, has a picture of Juice Wrld embracing Halsey. The video had more than 8 million views on YouTube by Sunday afternoon.

Two other tracks were released ahead of the album’s debut: “Righteous,” Juice Wrld’s first posthumous single, and “Tell Me U Luv Me,” a collaboration with fellow rapper Trippie Redd.

Juice Wrld, named top new artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, died Dec. 8 at Chicago’s Midway International Airport. He had turned 21 six days earlier.

Autopsy and toxicology results showed the rapper’s death was the result of “oxycodone and codeine toxicity,” according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

His manner of death was accidental, an autopsy report indicated.