Juice WRLD‘s family has released his first posthumous “Righteous,” which he recorded in his home studio in Los Angeles.
The track addresses anxiety and trying to quell it by self-medicating, while also acknowledging the addiction that comes with it. “All white Gucci suit, I’m feeling righteous, yeah/ I know that the truth is hard to digest, yeah/ Five or six pills in my right hand, yeah/ Codeine runneth over on my nightstand/ Takin’ medicine to fix all of the damage/ My anxiety the size of a planet/ Holes in my skull over time/ My hearts over ice.”
“Juice was a prolific artist who dedicated his life to making music. Choosing how to share his upcoming music with the world was no easy feat. Honoring the love Juice felt for his fans while shining a light on his talents and his spirit are the most important parts of this process for us,” his family said in a statement announcing the single’s release.
In interview last year with Billboard‘s Chelsea Briggs he said, “Anxiety’ something I feel like a lot of people neglect, which is completely and utterly wrong,” he said. “And me speaking from an African-American man, I know that that stuff is neglected in our community. You tell your momma, your daddy, your auntie, whoever that you feel like you get anxiety, you feel like you have depression, you feel like you got ADD, whatever, they’re gonna look at you like you’re crazy. ‘Boy, you don’t got that! Get out of here!’ Are you going to tell me I don’t got something, though?”
“That’s not how it should be, but that’s how it is. And that needs to change,” he continued. “I feel like I’m one of those people that can bring that change, or at least start a chain reaction for somebody else to come and do it after me.”
Listen to “Righteous” below.
Such an amazing article! After reading I listened to the song and truly connected to it. Thank you for the recommendation and explanation!