Eminem released “Godzilla,” the first-ever track with a posthumous feature from Juice WRLD, who died of an accidental overdose at the age of 21 in December of the previous year. Now comes a second collaboration, “Lace It,” Produced by benny blanco, who worked with Juice several times during the Chicago rapper’s tragically short life, “Lace It” is a song about the horrors of substance abuse. Over a gray storm-cloud beat, Juice opens the song with a chorus explaining his propensity for self-medication.
In the opening verse, Juice alludes to the mental health struggles that have him reaching for prescription pill bottles.
Eminem is no stranger to prescription drug addiction. He got sober in 2008 after a near-fatal overdose, so his verse comes straight from the heart. In his opening lines, Em reflects on how things can spiral out of control, much like they did for him after his best friend Proof was killed in 2006. Toward the end of his verse, Eminem catalogs some of the rappers we’ve lost to drugs over the years, among them Shock G of Digital Underground, Lil Peep, and Ol' Dirty Bastard. And the list goes on. Even seemingly superhuman figures like Prince and Michael Jackson are no match for the pills. Eminem doesn’t want to come across as some cranky old scold, but he rather not eulogize any more young artists like Juice WRLD, whose real name was Jarad Higgins.
“Lace It” is due to appear on the posthumous Juice WRLD album The Party Never Ends, scheduled next year. In a statement, the late rapper’s mother, Carmela Wallace, reminisced about her son’s love for Eminem.
“I can recall Jarad playing Eminem’s music on repeat at home because he was a huge fan,” she said. “This is a bittersweet moment for me; I am happy that Jarad had a chance to make music with someone he admired and sad that he cannot be here to take in the moment; Jarad left us way too soon.”
Source: Genius
