

While the average 20-year-old might spend a five-week trip through Western Europe checking out the sites or going to the pub, Juice Wrld just wanted to make more music. 1 album and was touring Europe with Nicki Minaj.Īs Juice Wrld crisscrossed Europe in early 2019 to promote his second album, the Chicago native asked his record label to find him a studio in every city. 2 on the charts just weeks after he was signed by Interscope in 2018.

Spotify put “Lucid Dreams” on Today’s Top Hits, making the service “the key platform for Juice breaking on those early singles,” said Monahan. That gave him an advantage in the streaming world, where playlists loom so large. “He blended all these genres, from emo to pop punk to hip hop, that he created this unique, addictive sound,” said Ned Monahan, a Spotify executive who previously helped market Juice Wrld at Interscope. Juice Wrld drew inspiration from the rock bands Paramore and Fall Out Boy, as much as any rapper, and has collaborated with Eminem, DJs such as Marshmello and pop stars like Halsey. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac, and has released music from Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.īut while much of the rap on SoundCloud required a record label to sand off the messy, mumbling edges to be commercial, Juice Wrld’s “Lucid Dreams” was an immediate hit, almost too perfect a pop song for a teenager without access to a major record label or top producer. Founded by Jimmy Iovine, Interscope gained notoriety by distributing Death Row Records, home to Dr. His early success drew the interest of Interscope Records, one of the defining labels of hip-hop. SoundCloud has served as a playground for aspiring DJs and rappers over the last decade, and music fans first discovered Juice Wrld when he released the song “Lucid Dreams” on the streaming service.

Much as Tupac and Biggie now symbolize the rise of gangsta rap, Juice Wrld is already one of the lasting symbols of SoundCloud rap.
