Juice WRLD should be celebrating his 22nd birthday on Wednesday (December 2). The late Chicago rapper’s estate commemorated the fallen talent with the release of the Benny Blanco-produced “Real Shit,” which hit streaming services overnight Wednesday (December 2).
“Real Shit” falls in line with tracks in the mold of what listeners heard on his posthumous Legends Never Die album. Juice expresses his insecurities and the realities of fame through his sing-song delivery over sparse guitar strings.
“Labels want my music, tell the studio to bounce it/That shit isn’t out yet/I’ma need like three M’s, put that shit on my desk,” he raps.
It remains to be seen if “Real Shit” will appear on Juice’s next album, which Grade-A Productions head Lil Bibby says is in the works.
Benny Blanco paid tribute to Juice with a touching post recounting their first interactions and hitting the studio together.
“The first song we ever recorded tho was ‘real shit,’” Blanco wrote. “It was the first time i saw his magic… the whole room dropped their jaws and watched him in awe… we knew we were in the room with a man who was going to change music forever… he went in the booth and recorded a song top to bottom in one take… then he did it 3 more times and said pick the best one.”
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“Lucid Dreams” producer Nick Mira also saluted his frequent collaborator and close friend with a couple of tweets. Mira compared Juice to the “modern-day Jimi Hendrix.”
No other artist could make a lucid dreams, all girls are the same, lean wit me, moonlight, robbery, etc
happy glo day ? @JuiceWorlddd
— #MiraTouch (@nickmira) December 2, 2020
I always and will always look at Juice as a modern day Jimi Hendrix.
— #MiraTouch (@nickmira) December 2, 2020
Spotify named Juice WRLD their most-streamed artist in the U.S. for 2020 on Tuesday (December 1) as part of their Wrapped series. He was also the fourth most-streamed artist if you account for the entire globe on the streaming service.
Juice, born Jarad Higgins, passed away on December 8, 2019, due to a fatal seizure at Chicago’s Midway Airport. He reportedly ingested a toxic amount of oxycodone and codeine.
Stream “Real Shit” below.