Nearly five months after Juice WRLD's death, his family and team are sharing his first solo posthumous song.
The track, titled "Righteous," was announced on social media Thursday with a message penned by Juice's mother, Carmela Wallace, and the Grade A imprint.
"Juice was a prolific artist who dedicated his life to making music. Choosing how to share his upcoming music with the world has been no easy feat," the post read in part. "Honoring the love Juice felt for his fans while shining a light on his talents and his spirit are the most important parts of this process to us."
The post goes on to reveal "Righteous" was recorded in Juice's home studio in Los Angeles, presumably sometime last summer, around the time Juice began teasing the track on social media. A version of "Righteous" also leaked online in late 2019, shortly after his death.
Following the "Righteous" announcement, Juice's girlfriend Ally Lotti shared a quick note about how much the song meant to her and Juice:
You can listen to the song now on all major platforms. A Steve Cannon-directed music video for the track was also released, watch it up top. The video, which features footage of Juice and J. Cole in the studio together, has fueled speculation that a collab is on the way.
"Righteous" comes just a day after Juice's family announced the Live Free 999 Fund, a charitable initiative that seeks to help young people who struggle with drug addiction and mental health issues.
"Young people around the world were truly touched by Jarad's music because he spoke to issues and situations in his music that resonated with them so deeply," Wallace said in the announcement for the fund. "I was aware of his struggles with addiction, anxiety, and depression; we had many conversations about his challenges with these issues. I know he truly wanted to be free from the demons that tormented him. I made the decision upon his death that I was going to share his struggles with the world with the objective of helping others."
Lil Bibby, an executive and Juice's label Grade A, has teased the rapper's posthumous album on a number of occasions. Earlier this month, he posted a video of himself and Juice passing the time in an airport. He then took to the comments section with: "Album Coming soonđđœđđ."
In its first day of release, "Righteous" racked up more than four millions streams on Spotify globally, which counts as Juice WRLD's biggest debut tally on the streaming platform. He earned similar success on Apple Music, with "Righteous" now standing as his biggest global debut there. On top of that, the video for the song was viewed 4.3 million times in its first 24 hours, which is his highest first-day mark for any music video released on YouTube.
