“Already Dead” by Juice WRLD

This track (“Already Dead”) reads a lot like vintage Juice WRLD, as it should since it was at least in part put together while he was still with us. Juice WRLD was a rapper who regularly harped on the subject of drug dependency, not really coming off like a junkie but rather someone who relies on these substances as an antidepressant – for lack of a more comprehensive word. And so it is with “Already Dead”.

However, at the same time, he knows ingesting intoxicants like Hennessy and Vicodin in such a manner is a dangerous habit. So he considers other options to exercise in the name of fighting his “demons”, such as prayer. And apparently, he even experiences some success in that regard. 

But like a true addict, the vocalist feels as if he’s on the verge of relapsing. And the further implication is that he does in fact go back to these substances, which may well be the selfsame “demons coming back from the past” referred to that continue to haunt him.

Song’s Title (“Already Dead”)

Furthermore, concerning the title of this song, what Juice is basically doing is telling his haters, i.e. those who ‘want him dead’, to chill out. And that’s because he already feels as if he has expired on the inside. 

Or as Juice puts it, he’s “already… been dead for years”. So it’s as if his enemies long for his downfall in vain, since as far as he’s concerned he’s already failed, so to speak.

Prophetic Lyrics

But of course all things considered, i.e. the fact that WRLD did verily die through drug consumption prior to this song’s official release, makes the lyrics read more prophetic than symbolic. 

Or to be more frank, let’s say that it’s weird, in a manner of speaking, to hear an artist who did in fact die very much prematurely chanting about ‘already being dead’. But so it is sometimes with the music industry. 

As pointed out later in the article, WRLD has remained very much commercially viable (as far streaming goes) to this day, even more so than most living musicians. So as long as there’s content of his to be discovered, by all means we should forward to it one day hitting the airwaves.

But as for the actual meaning of “Already Dead”, as conceived Juice wasn’t talking about his literal death. Rather he is speaking to the concept of being depressed and plagued by a troubled soul. And as is usual in his songs, he decides to confront this issue primarily via drug consumption.

Juice WRLD and “Already Dead”

While alive, the primary label that Juice WRLD (1998-2019) was signed to was Grade A Productions. This company was co-founded by another Chi-town hip-hop artist by the name of Lil Bibby, who in a way discovered Juice. 

And it was Lil Bibby who made the announcement, in late October 2021, that “Already Dead” is scheduled for a release date of 12 November 2021. Moreover, this track serves as the lead single from the project titled “The Party Never Ends”. The project in question is Juice’s second posthumous album after 2020’s “Legends Never Die”, a project that topped both the Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart.

As implied above, Juice has remained quite popular, even getting to two years after his passing from an accidental drug overdose. In fact as of mid-2021, he was reportedly holding down fourth place on the list of the most streamed artists of the year. 

And as of the writing of this post, according to Rolling Stone, he is in seventh place during this very week (22-28 October 2021) as far as top-streamed musicians. So there’s a good possibility that whatever album comes out under his name next will also be a chart topper.

More Facts

Apparently what prompted Lil Bibby to publicize the official release date of “Already Dead”, as noted above, was the fact that the entire song leaked on 26 October 2021. And even prior to that, fans of Juice WRLD knew about it, as he teased it himself back in 2018. 

Moreover, based on some comments made by Bibby, it seems that Juice may have stored this track somewhere where Grade A Productions had a hard time finding it for a while.

Juice wrote “Already Dead” with DT and Nick Mira, with the latter two artists also producing the track.

There is also news circulating about a forthcoming documentary centered on the life of Juice WRLD. And by the looks of things, said flick will be entitled Fighting Demons, and “Already Dead” may also be featured on its soundtrack.