Lil Bibby and Grade A seemingly fight an uphill battle every day to appease Juice WRLD’s ravenous fan base. However, on Wednesday (Feb. 2), they surprised fans by bringing one of Juice’s beloved unreleased hits to streaming platforms.
“Cigarettes” transports listeners back in time to Juice’s coveted 2017-18 archive, where the 999 EP skyrocketed his career at the height of the SoundCloud era. Containing legendary cuts like “closure,” “let me know,” “lost her” and of course “Lucid Dreams,” “Cigarettes” is an ethereal guitar-driven trap ballad that Juice WRLD’s emo-infused, love-torn singing glides effortlessly over.
While “Cigarettes” previously earned a visual last month, its live action rendition directed by Grade A mainstay Steve Cannon is out now. Starring Angus Cloud (Fez) from HBO’s hit series Euphoria, he plays the friend of a young man — played by This Is Us‘ Logan Shroyer — deep in the throes of a battle with alcohol addiction.
Crooning about wanting to be “lonely no more,” Juice’s emotive, hypnotic performance enthralls you into the downtrodden mindset littered throughout his music — striving to find his light amid the darkness, deciphering love and lust and battling the demons that constantly surround him.
Smoke cigarettes, cancer in the chest, like cardiac arrest
I’ve been feeling stressed tryna find ways to impress her
Showing her that I love, tryna show her an effort
Gotta keep it together
Juice WRLD — “Cigarettes”
Working mainly with Internet Money producer Nick Mira and SIDEPCE during that time, “Cigarettes” is a cloud of smoke covering the frustrations fans have felt stemming from Juice’s latest posthumous efforts. However, Fighting Demons and its accompanying documentary Into The Abyss provided the obligatory closure fans needed — uncovering the harsh reality of Juice’s struggle with addiction no matter how hard it was to see.
Similarly, his mother, Carmela Wallace, recently visited the Tamron Hall show to speak on her son’s battle with drugs, saying that his “inner circle” could have been more supportive of him in his desperate time of need. In December, Juice’s closest friends and family threw a tribute show in his memory at Juice WRLD Day, where Trippie Redd, Ski Mask The Slump God, LUCKI, DJ Scheme, his mother and more all made appearances to honor the life of the fallen icon.
Juice WRLD Day also acted as an album listening party for Fighting Demons, which features tracks in “Go Hard,” “Feline,” “Relocate” and “Burn.” Bibby has previously alluded to a deluxe version of the project coming out “for real” this time, but no news has surfaced regarding any additional tracks being added. Yet, Juice WRLD’s Fighting Demons Complete Edition was released in tangent with “Go Hard 2.0.”
Juice stans continue to clamor for more of the late-legend’s music being put on DSPs, as Bibby and Grade A re-released “Go Hard” with a second verse and an anime-style visual. The video sees Juice fighting more demons in a Dragon Ball Z-esque battle with a cartoon Lil Uzi Vert. Uzi’s verse — which was originally featured on the track — never made it on the album or on “Go Hard 2.0.”
Much like how XXXTENTACION‘s team is releasing a slew of his old SoundCloud hits on streaming services, Bibby and company continue to roll out more music from the Chicago legend. Reminding listeners of his god-given knack for melodies on “Cigarettes,” Juice WRLD’s underground discography is so expansive that more archived tracks will surely make their official debuts in the near future.
As Juice WRLD’s legacy keeps on living through his posthumous and resurfaced works, here’s hoping fans get that “perfect” unreleased tape they’ve been endlessly waiting for.
Listen to “Cigarettes” below!
