US musician Juice WRLD died tragically in late 2019 of an accidental drug overdose, and now his friend and fellow rapper Future has opened up on suggestions he had an influence on WRLD’s drug use.
In an interview with XXL, Future said that Juice WRLD’s passing still affects him each day. “Still to this day, I’m heartbroken. Rest in peace to Juice Wrld. He’s a great artist. He had so much more to do.”
Medical examiners found that the 21-year-old had mixed oxycodone and codeine, and Future admits he feels at least partially responsible for his drug use through rapping about illicit substances in his music.
He says that he and Juice WRLD were part of a long culture of music that incorporated drug references. “It was so many people that came before me that talked about drugs from rock ’n’ roll stars to pop stars to people aware of other artists going to rehabs and aware of other artists’ overdose and there is so many other people that was a part of this world way before me.”
Nevertheless Future says it has never been his intention to steer anyone towards use and addiction. “Me having an influence on that, I just feel like…that is not my intentions.
“My intention was just to be me. I’m just being me and what you get from it is what you get from it, but at the same time, I wouldn’t want no one to go through anything to harm theyself or to bring death to theyself and Juice Wrld is a touchy situation. I’m heartbroken by the whole thing. My heart goes out to his family, his mom.”
Watch ‘Lucid Dreams’ by Juice WRLD:
Following Juice WRLD’s death, his family opened up about his battle with drug abuse. “As he often addressed in his music and to his fans, Jarad battled with prescription drug dependency,” said his mother Carmella Wallace.
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“Addiction knows no boundaries and its impact goes way beyond the person fighting it.”
Shortly before his passing, Juice WRLD was made the subject of a lawsuit filed by Yellowcard alleging he illegally sampled their music. In February of 2020, the lawsuit was officially placed on hold.
