Lil Durk Calls Juice WRLD An “Icon,” Shares Why He Quit Taking Percocets

Young artists are vowing to give up drugs left and right following the untimely death of Juice WRLD. While the rapper’s cause of death is still listed as “inconclusive” pending toxicology reports, there have been rumors that Juice WRLD may have ingested a number of pills just prior to his death. On Thursday, his mother came forward to speak candidly about her son’s drug dependency, and she hopes that others take control of their addictions before it’s too late.

Juice WRLD’s fellow Chicago rapper Lil Durk spoke with Complex about the passing of his friend. He said like many others, he found out about Juice WRLD’s death on Instagram. “We woke up to it,” he said, adding that his initial reaction was to feel “salty.” He said, “We went through the same situation with Fredo [Santana, who died after having a seizure]. I thought it was fake though, the first time that I seen it. You know how Instagram be. That’s the type of sh*t that they wanna see. ‘Oh, he died from drugs.'”

Durkio added, “He was a real icon. Like, he wasn’t like a regular artist. He was a real icon.” The rapper said that he’d quit taking Percocets a while back because he felt as if he was “taking ’em too much.” Even as artists speak openly about giving up their addictions, Durk said people are still going to do what they want. He admitted he took drugs to deal with pain as he was “going through street situations,” especially when he “first started going to jail.” 

As far as his case is concerned, it’s still ongoing as Durk is out on bail. When asked if fans showed be concerned, the rapper just said he’s got new music on the way and “I’m gon’ always be me.” Check out his full interview below.