Juice Wrld was on the path to a bright future before tragically passing away on Sunday.
The rapper, born Jared Anthony Higgins, who turned 21 last week, rose to fame on streaming site SoundCloud which then captured the attention of Interscope records.
The mega label then went on to sign him up with an epic $3million deal when he was only 19.
Speaking at the time, the Chicago native told Complex how securing the deal was ‘crazy’ and how he didn’t want the life-changing deal to ‘change his work ethic.’
When asked if it he was taken by surprise to scoop up a deal so quick, the Lucid Dreams hitmaker told: “That was crazy. I don’t know. To this day, it hasn’t settled in yet. That’s how I want it to be, though. I don’t want to get lost in everything.
“I just want to keep the same work ethic. There’s still things to be done and points to be proven. Money to be made, you know? I want to keep that same mentality because when artists stop and think about everything and realize, like, ‘I just got a multi-million dollar contract,’ I think that’s when I think they get, quote unquote, lost in the sauce.”
When discussing the huge amount of money, the humble star added: “I mean, off the simple fact that this shit happened on short notice, off the fact that people were offering me money, period? Of course! Of course.”
The musician died in hospital after falling ill at Chicago’s Midway airport today. He’d just jetted in on a flight from California, according to TMZ.com .
Juice Wrld reportedly became sick at the airport and was rushed to hospital, where he later passed away.
He is said to have been still conscious when he was transported to the medical centre, but died a short time later.
No cause of death has been given.
The tragedy comes a week after his 21st birthday last Monday and just as his career was starting to take off.
After news of his death broke today, fans flocked to Twitter to pay tribute.
One wrote: “RIP Juice Wrld. Gone from us way to soon.”
Another added: “Rest In Peace to Juice Wrld. Gone way too soon. My prayers go out to his family. He was only 21.”
His most famous collaboration was with Travis Scott singing on his track No Bystanders on his AstroWorld album.
The stage name Juice Wrld is believed to have been inspired by rap legend Tupac Shakur and his performance in 1992 film Juice.
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