Juice WRLD: Family Speaks out During Emotional Private Chicago Funeral

Juice WRLD was laid to rest in a private ceremony on Friday. The rapper, whose real name was Jarad Anthony Higgins, died unexpectedly at the age of 21 earlier in this month just outside his hometown of Chicago. In the funeral documents, which were obtained by TMZ, the rapper’s mother, Carmela Wallace, wrote a moving passage about her late son.

“My dear son Jarad, God trusted me to raise you and I poured all I had into you as the Lord guided me. We were inseparable and even though you left home early, we were always in each other’s hearts and always had a special bond. We were always overjoyed to see each other, and you still called me ‘mommy’ as you hugged and kiss me when you saw me. Your love was pure and innocent, and your heart was genuine. You truly cared about people and wanted to make the world a better place. I am going to miss you dearly.”

“Rest in peace my dear one; mommy loves you,” the passage concluded.

His three siblings also paid tribute to their bother with a quote from Plato.

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, fight to the imagination and life to everything,” the quote read, and they closed with “Jarad, you brought life, light and laughter to everyone you met. We will carry you in our hearts always. We love you.”

His grandmother Cecilia Darden also included a message of your own: “I loved being a part of your life and watching the happy little boy grow up to become a thoughtful, caring and talented young man. Thank you for all the love and joy that you gave us. I am happy that you got a chance to live out your dreams.”

The rapper started having seizures on Sunday, Dec. 8 at Midway Airport in Chicago. While he was alive when paramedics arrived, he was pronounced dead by the time he’d arrived at the hospital.

A rising star in hip-hop, Juice WRLD was considered a pioneer of “emo rap,” which fused together those two very different musical genres. He’d cited some of his non-rap influences included the likes of Black Sabbath, Fall Out Boy, Megadeth and Panic! at the Disco.

Growing up in a conservative household, the rapper acknowledged that he dealt with substance abuse issues. Earlier this week, his family broke their silence about his problems with addiction in a plea to help others seek the help they might need.

“Addiction knows no boundaries and its impact goes way beyond the person fighting it,” the statement read in part. “We hope the conversations he started in his music and his legacy will help others win their battles as that is what he wanted more than anything.”