Washington (AFP)
The American rapper Juice WRLD, whose career was growing, died Sunday in Chicago at the age of 21, announced the local authorities.
Jarad A. Higgins, his real name, suddenly collapsed at the Midway airport in his hometown of Chicago when he had just returned from California, according to TMZ, site specializes in celebrities.
Forensic doctors in Cook County, Illinois, will perform an autopsy on Monday to determine the exact cause of his death, a county spokesman told AFP.
"The death of Mr. Higgins was pronounced at 3:14 (8:14 GMT)" in a medical center in the suburbs of Chicago, she said.
Police confirmed to AFP that a 21-year-old man had had a medical emergency at Midway Airport leaving a private jet.
Like other artists of her generation, Juice WRLD was known online before breaking into the mainstream, including its title "Lucid Dreams".
This generation of "SoundCloud rappers", the name of the streaming platform on which they emerged, often evokes in its lyrics the use of drugs and drugs, including Xanax, an anti-depressant.
One of its members, Lil Peep, died in 2017, at the age of 21, from an overdose of fentanyl, a powerful opiate, and Xanax.
Juice WRLD reported in a New York Times interview in 2018 that he had used this antidepressant extensively during his teenage years, but that he intended to reduce his use.
"Juice has had a profound impact on the world in such a short time," responded his label, Interscope Records, in a statement. "It is shocking to lose someone so nice and so much in our hearts."
"Wow, I can not believe it, rest my brother in peace," tweeted rapper Lil Yachty on Sunday, amidst the tributes that were proliferating on social networks.
"Rest in peace, Juice", reacted on his side on Twitter Lil Nas X, whose hit "Old Town Road" was a hit this year. "So sad to see this happening so often lately to talented young artists in the making."
© 2019 AFP