Jarad “Juice Wrld” Higgins reportedly passed away in December 2019 from oxycodone and codeine intoxication. The late Hip Hop artist routinely wrote lyrics about drug usage, the perils that come along with addiction, and mental health struggles.
Juice Wrld’s mother, Carmela Wallace, appeared on The Tamron Hall Show this week to discuss her son. In particular, Wallace spoke about the people who surrounded the “Lucid Dreams” performer before his death.
“I just felt like his best interest wasn’t being looked out for. I think people had their own agendas,” said Carmela Wallace. “I think they liked the lifestyle. And they were young too, so I have to give them that.”
Wallace continued, “They’re young so they don’t see things the way we would see it, but I just think that he just didn’t have the people in place to just tell him to stop or to know [what was really wrong]. He just didn’t have that support system in place.”
Recently, fellow rapper Nicholas “Lil Xan” Leanos also sparked a conversation about celebrities’ handlers being partially responsible for the stars’ drug abuse. Lil Xan publicly threatened to sue his former manager, Stat Quo, for supplying him with illegal narcotics.
Juice WRLD: Into the Abyss Hit HBO In December 2021
Director Tommy Oliver explored Jarad Higgins’ life story in HBO’s Juice WRLD: Into the Abyss. Close associates of Juice WRLD, such as Lil Bibby, Polo G, G Herbo, and The Kid Laroi, appeared in the documentary. Carmela Wallace was a producer for the film.
Into the Abyss arrived around the same time as the posthumously released Juice WRLD album Fighting Demons. The project debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart. Eleven songs off Fighting Demons debuted on the Hot 100 chart during the LP’s debut week.
“I was very honest with him about my fear. I remember there was an incident when I was done working and I was doing errands and I said, ‘I want to put on one of his songs.’ This one particular day, I was listening to a song [‘Maze’] and I just began to weep,” Carmela Wallace told Tamron Hall.
Wallace added, “I just wept and this was months before his death. I was so scared and I told him that. I shared my experience with him. I told him, ‘If you ever die like that, it would change my life forever. I just wouldn’t be the same.’ I just could not stop the tears [when listening to the song] because I knew ultimately the end of that is either you get help or you’re not gonna make it.”