12 December 2019
Newsdesk
The family of late rapper Juice WRLD have opened up about his tragic death and long-term battle with prescription drug dependency.
The 21-year-old Lucid Dreams hitmaker died at Chicagos Midway Airport after suffering a seizure early on Sunday. It was revealed he had been taking Percocet, an opioid painkiller, and was in possession of several bottles of prescription cough syrup.
Speaking to TMZ, the star's family spoke for the first time about his passing and addressed his issues with substance abuse.
"We loved Jarad with all of our hearts and cannot believe our time with him has been cut short," they said, adding, "As he often addressed in his music and to his fans, Jarad battled with prescription drug dependency."
Juice, real name Jarad Higgins, often rapped about drugs in his music, but his family insisted he used his music as a method of reaching out for help, rejecting the notion he was promoting drugs in his tunes.
"Addiction knows no boundaries and its impact goes way beyond the person fighting it," they continued. "Jarad was a son, brother, grandson, friend and so much more to so many people who wanted more than anything to see him defeat addiction."
Now, they hope his story can help others with their own drug addictions, explaining: "We hope the conversations he started in his music and his legacy will help others win their battles as that is what he wanted more than anything... We know that Jarad's legacy of love, joy and emotional honesty will live on."
Earlier this week, the rapper's ex Alexia Smith told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper of the star's issues, claiming he struggled with his mental health and suffered from depression, and would take a concoction of Percocet and lean - a mixture of codeine cough syrup and soda - as a form of self-medication.
