Legends Never Die | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 10, 2020 | |||
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Length | 58:50 | |||
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Producer |
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Juice Wrld chronology | ||||
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Singles from Legends Never Die | ||||
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Legends Never Die is the third studio album by American rapper Juice Wrld. It was posthumously released by Grade A Productions and Interscope Records on July 10, 2020. The album follows Juice Wrld's death from a drug-related seizure approximately seven months prior, on December 8, 2019. It features guest appearances from the Weeknd, Trippie Redd, Marshmello, Polo G, the Kid Laroi, and Halsey.
Legends Never Die received generally positive reviews and debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with 497,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It also reached number one in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The album was supported by six singles: "Righteous", "Tell Me U Luv Me", "Life's a Mess", "Come & Go", "Wishing Well", and "Smile".
In January 2020, a month following Juice Wrld's death, it was reported that at least two thousand songs were recorded before he died. 26 of these were leaked onto the streaming platform SoundCloud by the user "999 WRLD". [2] Juice's label (Grade A) and family released a statement regarding his unreleased music:
From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank each and every one of you for your undivided adoration and love for Juice. You guys meant the entire world to Juice and by listening to his music, watching his videos and sharing your stories about him, you are keeping his memory alive forever. We plan to honor Juice's talents, his spirit, and the love he felt for his fans by sharing unreleased music and other projects that he was passionately in the process of developing. [3]
On May 4, 2020, Juice's girlfriend Ally Lotti referenced an album under the title of The Outsiders, which Juice Wrld had intended to make his next album. [4] However, the label and Juice Wrld's grieving family chose to delay The Outsiders and first put a 15-track tribute album titled Legends Never Die that was announced on July 7, 2020. [5] Two days after the album announcement, Juice's manager Lil Bibby hinted at a deluxe edition after fans demanded more songs. [6] A new version of the album's final song "Man of the Year" was added in the track listing on July 14, 2020, just days after the album's release. [7]
"Righteous" was released on April 24, 2020, as the album's lead single, [8] the song peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100. [9] "Tell Me U Luv Me" featuring Trippie Redd, was released on May 29, 2020, as the album's second single, [10] the song peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. [9]
"Life's a Mess" featuring Halsey, was released on July 6, 2020, as the album's third single, [11] the song peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. [9] A teaser video of the album was released later that day. [12] "Come & Go" featuring EDM producer Marshmello, was released on July 9, as the album's fourth single, [13] the song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. [9]
The album's fifth single, "Wishing Well", was sent to rhythmic contemporary radio on July 28, 2020, [14] the song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. [9] "Smile" featuring the Weeknd, was released on August 7, 2020, as the album's sixth single, [15] the song peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. [9]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.2/10 [16] |
Metacritic | 75/100 [17] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [18] |
And It Don't Stop | A− [19] |
Clash | 9/10 [20] |
The Guardian | [21] |
HipHopDX | 3.7/5 [22] |
The Line of Best Fit | 9/10 [23] |
NME | [24] |
Pitchfork | 7.1/10 [25] |
RapReviews | 6.5/10 [26] |
Rolling Stone | [27] |
Legends Never Die was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 10 reviews. [17] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.2 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. [16]
Writing for Clash , Mike Milenko acclaimed the album, calling it "poetic, prophetic and poignant". Milenko further stated that the album's production works well with Wrld's voice and noted "Life's a Mess", "Come & Go", "Man of the Year" and "Wishing Well" as standouts from the record. However, Milenko opined that "some tracks are throwaway". [20] Sheldon Pearce of The Guardian wrote that Legends Never Die is "overstuffed, sometimes underwritten and often puerile", but praise was directed towards Wrlds' performances on the album. Pearce also commended the way Wrld's "leading his listeners through their own angst", referring to the tracks "Bad Energy" and "Fighting Demons", on which Pearce opined that he "sounds like a patron saint of the melancholy masses". [21] The Line of Best Fit 's reviewer Steven Loftin, who praised the album, wrote that it's "both a celebration and a standing document to the intricate mind he [Wrld] truly was, and it indeed does justice to a unique mind". [23] A. D. Amorosi of Variety said, "Sonically, compared with Juice WRLD's early SoundCloud material, Legends Never Die, is positively lush – not over-produced, but comparatively elaborately arranged". [28] Fred Thomas of AllMusic gave a positive review, stating, "Legends Never Die is as strong a collection of Juice WRLD songs as any, with already-searing songs made more intense by the shadow of their departed creator looming over the album". [18] Mimi Kenny of HipHopDX said, "Legends Never Die functions as a goodbye to and from Juice WRLD. His exact wishes for a post-death album might never be known, but this avoids feeling exploitative". [22] Robert Christgau appraised Juice Wrld as an "anxiety-ridden melodicist" and went on to say:
However effortless his tuneful rivulets of pitch-corrected singsong, however proud his talent and earned his success, he was frightened and insecure underneath. This kind of torment always has a biochemical component and afflicts humans of every background. But how can it not be exacerbated by systemic racism? Many rappers admit that it afflicts them to one extent or other. But Juice Wrld put it front and center, and for me that renders his melodies more likable and his art uncommonly affecting—I feel for this drug abuser and enjoy his music more as a result. Materially, he did quite well for himself during his brief lifetime. But he was honest and decent enough to deserve better. [19]
Other reviewers were less impressed. Dhruva Balram of NME called the album bloated and noted that it does "little to serve his [Wrld's] legacy justice". However, Barlam praised the first half of the album, while opining that the "intimacy" of Wrld's other projects is missing on Legends Never Die. Balram described the criticism as the following: "Despite the contagious nature of most of the tracks, that message is muted or left jumbled within a meandering album. Juice Wrld's music came to life most when he made it seem like you were the only two people in the room like he was speaking directly to you, the listener. That intimacy is sadly missing here." [24] Brandon Caldwell of Pitchfork called the record repetitive at times, but stated that "the gripping parts of Legends Never Die come when Juice is speaking from the heart". [25] Writing for Rolling Stone , Danny Schwartz wrote that "the album shines brightest when Juice stops navel-gazing, when he tempers his fatalism with a sense of hope and togetherness, the yang to his depressive yin". Schwartz noted the tracks "Righteous" and "Wishing Well" as standouts. [27]
Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Billboard | The 20 Best Rap Albums of 2020 | 10 | |
Cleveland.com | Best Albums of 2020 | 41 | |
Complex | The Best Albums of 2020 | 40 |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | American Music Awards | Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Album | Nominated | |
Billboard Music Awards | Top Billboard 200 Album | Nominated | ||
Top Rap Album | Nominated |
Legends Never Die debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 497,000 album-equivalent units (including 209,000 pure album sales) in its first week, becoming the rapper's second number-one album. The album also accumulated a total of 422.63 million on-demand streams of the set's tracks in the week ending July 25. [34] For the week ending July 25, 2020, a total of 17 of the album's songs charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, with five entries in the top 10: "Come & Go", "Wishing Well", "Conversations", "Life's a Mess", and "Hate the Other Side", which reached numbers two, five, seven, nine, and 10, respectively. [35] This made Juice Wrld the third artist to ever achieve this, behind the Beatles and Drake; the album also became the most successful posthumous release in 20 years. [36] "Life's a Mess" notably jumped from number 74 to number nine that week. [35] Legends Never Die was the fifth best selling album of 2020 with 1.990 million album-equivalent units, including 301,000 pure copies in the United States. [37]
In the United Kingdom, Legends Never Die debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 22,000 album-equivalent units. [38]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Anxiety" (Intro) | Jarad Higgins | 1:10 | |
2. | "Conversations" |
| 3:01 | |
3. | "Titanic" |
|
| 2:56 |
4. | "Bad Energy" |
|
| 3:06 |
5. | "Righteous" |
| 4:02 | |
6. | "Blood on My Jeans" |
|
| 2:34 |
7. | "Smile" (with the Weeknd) |
|
| 3:16 |
8. | "Tell Me U Luv Me" (with Trippie Redd) |
|
| 3:00 |
9. | "Hate the Other Side" (with Marshmello featuring Polo G and the Kid Laroi) |
| Marshmello | 2:40 |
10. | "Get Through It" (Interlude) | Higgins | 0:20 | |
11. | "Life's a Mess" (with Halsey) |
|
| 3:22 |
12. | "Come & Go" (with Marshmello) |
| Marshmello | 3:25 |
13. | "I Want It" |
|
| 2:53 |
14. | "Fighting Demons" |
|
| 3:20 |
15. | "Wishing Well" |
| 3:14 | |
16. | "Screw Juice" |
| Mira | 2:59 |
17. | "Up Up and Away" |
|
| 2:27 |
18. | "The Man, the Myth, the Legend" (Interlude) | Higgins | 2:16 | |
19. | "Stay High" |
|
| 2:48 |
20. | "Can't Die" |
|
| 3:02 |
21. | "Man of the Year" |
|
| 2:16 |
22. | "Juice WRLD Speaks from Heaven" (Outro) | Higgins | 0:30 | |
Total length: | 58:50 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
23. | "All Girls Are the Same" |
| Mira | 2:45 |
24. | "Lucid Dreams" |
| Mira | 3:59 |
25. | "Robbery" |
| Mira | 4:00 |
Total length: | 69:35 |
Notes
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [42]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [108] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Belgium (BEA) [109] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [110] | Platinum | 40,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [111] | 2× Platinum | 40,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [112] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [113] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [114] | Platinum | 15,000‡ |
Poland (ZPAV) [115] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [116] | Platinum | 300,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [117] | 2× Platinum | 301,000 [37] |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Label(s) | Format(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | July 10, 2020 | [118] | ||
October 10, 2020 | [119] | |||
Japan | October 28, 2020 | Universal Music Japan | CD | [120] [121] |
Jarad Anthony Higgins, known professionally as Juice Wrld, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He emerged as a leading figure in the emo and SoundCloud rap genres, which garnered mainstream attention during the mid-to-late 2010s. His stage name, which he said represents "taking over the world", was derived from the crime thriller film Juice (1992).
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"Lucid Dreams" (formerly "Lucid Dreams (Forget Me)") is a song by American rapper Juice Wrld. It was officially released by Grade A Productions and Interscope Records on May 4, 2018, after previously being released on SoundCloud in June 2017. The song was produced by Nick Mira and debuted at number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 2 on the chart. The song has over 2.6 billion streams on Spotify, being one of the most-streamed songs on the platform. As of August 2024, the music video has over one billion views on YouTube. In February 2022, the song was certified Diamond by RIAA for selling over 10 million units in the U.S.
"Legends" is a song by American rapper Juice Wrld. It was released as the second single from his EP Too Soon.. on June 22, 2018, three days after the EP's release. The song is an homage to two deceased rappers – Lil Peep, who died by overdose on November 15, 2017, and XXXTentacion, a friend of Juice Wrld's who was murdered on June 18, 2018. After his death in 2019, the song's lyrics were re-contextualized by critics and fans as a prediction of his own fate.
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Culture III is the fourth and final studio album by American hip hop group Migos. It was released on June 11, 2021, by Quality Control Music and Motown. The album features guest appearances from Drake, Cardi B, Polo G, Future, Justin Bieber, Juice Wrld, Pop Smoke, and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. It is the follow-up to their 2018 album Culture II and serves as the conclusion to their Culture trilogy. A deluxe edition was released six days later, including five additional tracks.
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"Conversations" is a song by American rapper Juice Wrld, released on July 10, 2020, as the second track from his posthumous third studio album Legends Never Die.
"Hate the Other Side" is a song by American rapper Juice Wrld and producer Marshmello featuring Polo G and the Kid Laroi. It was released on July 10, 2020, as the ninth track from Juice's posthumous third studio album Legends Never Die.
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"Wishing Well" is a song by American rapper Juice Wrld, from his posthumous third studio album Legends Never Die. Written alongside producers Dr. Luke and Chopsquad DJ, it was sent to rhythmic contemporary radio as the album's fifth single on July 28, 2020. An animated music video was released on July 13, 2020. An uplifting song reflecting on fame, depression and drug use, the song received positive reviews from critics who regarded it as a standout, with Billboard ranking it as the best song on the album. It debuted at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, simultaneously charting in the top 10 with four other songs from the album.
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For the Vitamin C song, see Smile.
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