After his breakout hit "All Girls Are The Same" and the success of his single "Lucid Dreams," in May of this year, genre-bending recording artist Juice WRLD released his debut album Goodbye, Good Riddance, followed by a two-song tribute EP called Too Soon... in honor a few fellow rappers who have recently lost their lives.
Goodbye, Good Riddance is Juice WRLD's (real name Jarad Higgins) first full-length studio album, which features 16 new songs including "Lucid Dreams," "All Girls Are The Same," a feature from Lil Uzi Vert on a track called "Wasted," and two skits, "Betrayal" and "Karma." And even though his album's title is Goodbye, Good Riddance, Juice WRLD is certainly here to stay — he's just moving on to the next chapter of his career. He tells iHeartRadio, "It kind of represents getting out of one part of your life and moving onto the next."
Higgins says that putting his debut album together was like a puzzle, telling us, "A couple of the songs I pre-made, and a couple of the songs I made just in the process, and it all kind of just fit together like a puzzle." He adds that one of his favorite songs off the record is "Long Gone," and explains, "I just like the cadence and how I layered up the song, pretty much. I just like the way it sounds."
On How "Lucid Dreams" Came To Be:
"Lucid Dreams" became hugely successful for Juice WRLD and became his first top ten song. The 19--year-old tells iHeartRadio of the hit track:
"It's funny because I had no idea that was going to be a song to blow up. I wrote it in like 20 minutes in my family room, and I thought it was like just a Nas sample, and my mom comes in upstairs, she's like, 'What do you know about [this]? This is Sting. What do you know about Sting?' And I have listened to all genres of music, so I was surprised that I didn't know about him. And, I looked a couple of his songs up, found a couple I liked, added it to my playlist or whatever, and then I just went on to write the song in like 20 minutes. I didn't think it was going to be anything special. I liked all the songs that I wrote, but I didn't think, 'Oh, this is going to be the one. This is going to be it.' But, it just turned out to be what it is today."
On Influences and Wanting To Work With Billy Idol
Juice WRLD has been credited by many as being a "genre-bending" artist, and judging by his influences it's easy to see why. Higgins draws inspiration from all genres of music and listens to artists including the Beatles, Skrillex, Fall Out Boy, and even some metal and punk bands; "Lucid Dreams," even includes a Sting sample.
The recording artist us of how he's inspired by this diverse music, "I think it's a part of me at this point. It's almost like what I make comes natural. I don't really go against the grain of what my mindset is, so it's a part of me for sure."
Among the artists he's inspired by, Juice WRLD has said that one of his dream collaborations is the "Rebel Yell" himself, Billy Idol. He says of the rock icon, "[He's] a rebel. He has a really nice sound. I've been listening to Billy Idol since I was probably like 11/12. So, it's always been just an appealing sound."
On His Too Soon... Tribute EP: "Legends" & "Rich and Blind"
Following the death of Lil Peep late last year, and most recently XXXtentacion, although he admits he wasn't particularly close with either rapper, Juice WRLD felt inspired enough to write two songs, "Legends" and "Rich and Blind," packaging the tracks as his Too Soon... EP. He explains of the EP:
"It was just kind of like my two cents on stuff that has been happening recently. You know, rest in peace to Jahseh [XXXtentacion]. We weren't close friends, I'm not going to lie. You know, a lot of people lie on people that are dead, like, 'That was homie. That was my close friend.' No, like we had probably like three or four deep conversations, and I don't even think we saw eye-to-eye, but no matter what, from his point-of-view, he was giving me good advice, and he was always positive, and I have to respect that. He's one of the best artists to walk this earth. And then, same with [Lil] Peep, but I didn't know Peep at all. Just been a huge fan of his music since the start. It hit home when both of those people passed away. So, I just thought I should drop a couple songs."
On Future Plans & His Collab with The Chainsmokers
Juice WRLD is currently on his "WRLD Domination Tour," which takes him across the US, stopping in major cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, and more, before wrapping up in Rhode Island in September.
But despite the tour, and the fact that he released his debut album a mere few months ago, the rapper already has some more new material up his sleeve. He explains that while on the road, he's "going to try to release some more music as soon as possible." Juice WRLD adds, "I have a couple visuals planned out and things are looking good this year, for sure."
Amongst the new music that Juice WRLD is working on, he's collaborated with The Chainsmokers. There's no official release date for the track just yet, but he tells us that, "They sent me some stuff over and I worked there when I was in L.A.," adding, "I knocked out a couple songs with them. It came out pretty good. I can't wait to see where it goes.'