Juice WRLD, rapper, singer, and songwriter from Chicago (real name Jarad Anthony Higgins), died in 2019 of an overdose, but his work continues to attract fans. In celebration of the three-year anniversary of the album Goodbye & Good Riddance, a remix of the song “Lucid Dreams” was released. The song has been played on Spotify more than a billion times and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
“I have these lucid dreams where I can’t move a thing,” the song’s lyrics reflect the video clip, animated in the style of a 3D video game. The first part shows Juice WRLD chained to a bed, and a dark angel who frees the rapper from his chains and sends him into interstellar space. The rapper then suddenly opens his eyes to discover himself standing on the roof of a building in a big city, before smoothly jumping off into a sea of demonic-looking creatures below.
There he teams up with another famous singer – Lil Uzi Vert, who is easily recognizable by the big pink diamond in his forehead: according to the Hypebeast website, the $24 million stone was originally intended for a ring, but because of the fear of losing such an expensive jewel, the musician implanted the diamond in his forehead. In the context of the video, the stone has mystical qualities, helping the characters escape from the demons. Finally, after some struggle, the singers incinerate the dark figure of the main enemy.
The lyrics mostly reflect the author’s personal pain after a failed relationship. According to the magazine Music Times, Juice WRLD draws a comparison between lucid dreaming and sadness after breaking up with a girl. We should add that in the content of the video, there are allusions to a number of phase states: at first, the hero is chained to the bed (which obviously resembles sleep paralysis), after which he soars up (out-of-body experiences) and opens his eyes in a dream-like space.
The remix was recorded in 2018, but it wasn’t released until May 28, 2021, for the album’s third anniversary.
