Fighting Demons is the fourth studio album by American rapper Juice Wrld. It was posthumously released by Grade A Productions and Interscope Records on December 10, 2021. The album features guest appearances from Justin Bieber, Polo G, Trippie Redd, and Suga of BTS. It serves as a tie-in for an HBO-produced documentary titled Juice Wrld: Into the Abyss, released on December 16, 2021.
Fighting Demons | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | December 10, 2021 | |||
Recorded |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 55:45 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Juice Wrld chronology | ||||
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Singles from Fighting Demons | ||||
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Release and promotion
editOn November 11, 2021, Grade A Productions, in conjunction with Juice Wrld's mother, Carmela Wallace, announced the album with the release date of December 10, 2021.[3] The album's lead single, "Already Dead", was released the following day, November 12, 2021,[4] the song peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[5]
The second single, "Wandered to LA", a collaboration with Canadian singer Justin Bieber, was released on December 3, 2021,[6] the song peaked at number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100.[5]
On December 9, 2021, a tribute event titled Juice Wrld Day was held at Chicago's United Center. At the event, the album was played prior to its release as a listening party. A few special guests appeared to perform and pay respect to Juice, including Ski Mask the Slump God, Trippie Redd, 24kGoldn, and Lucki. Juice's former DJ Mike P hosted the event.[7][8]
The song "Girl of My Dreams" with South Korean rapper Suga was released as a promotional single on the album's release date on December 10, 2021.[9]
"Cigarettes" was released for digital download on February 2, 2022, as the album's third single.[10] The song peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100.[5] The complete edition of the album was released on the same day, alongside the newly released song "Go Hard 2.0".[11]
The previously released singles from the two-track EP Too Soon.., "Rich and Blind" and "Legends", were later added to the album on March 18, 2022, alongside the newly released song "Sometimes".[12]
Critical reception
editAggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 73/100[13] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Clash | 5/10[15] |
HipHopDX | 3.6/5[16] |
NME | |
Pitchfork | 6.5/10[18] |
RapReviews | 7/10[19] |
Rolling Stone |
Fighting Demons was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 73, based on seven reviews.[13]
A. D. Amorosi of Variety praised many of the guest artists on Fighting Demons, with Justin Bieber's verse on single "Wandered to LA" and Suga's verse on promotional single "Girl of My Dreams" being his two favourites. He mentioned that the album stands out over other post-mortem projects because, in comparison, there are "surprisingly (and happily) few features".[2] Writing for NME, Kyann-Sian Williams gave the project a rating of 4/5 stars citing that Fighting Demons "shows the other side of Juice Wrld, which was never explored enough while he was alive" and that the project manages to deepen his narrative with a level of care rarely seen on posthumous releases.[17] Reviewing the album for HipHopDX, Mackenzie Cummings-Grady stated, "Fighting Demons embodies Juice Wrld in that way: a flawed project with moments of brilliance that feels uncomfortable to listen to but isn't ashamed of its naked humanity. And in that aspect, it becomes a balancing act of the man and the artist, melding the two to create a project that's earnest and authentic – just like Juice Wrld".[16]
Fred Thomas of AllMusic said, "Themes of struggling to overcome depression and drug dependency surface often on Fighting Demons, making it a heavier collection than the sometimes celebratory memoriam of Legends Never Die. It's not an essential piece of the Juice Wrld story, but it's also not without some solid reminders of his greatness".[14] Rolling Stone critic Will Dukes said, "Fighting Demons, his second posthumous album is a tortured but overall grateful memento mori from a talented artist who left us all too soon".[20] In a lukewarm review, Clash's Robin Murray wrote, "Ultimately Fighting Demons works almost as a tribute record, gathering fragments of his undoubted genius. Whether it's a true Juice Wrld album, though, is another matter".[15]
Commercial performance
editFighting Demons debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 119,000 album-equivalent units (including 4,000 pure album sales) in its first week. The album also accumulated a total of 155.49 million on-demand streams of the set's tracks in the week ending December 25.[21]
Track listing
editNo. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Burn" |
| Metro Boomin | 3:37 |
2. | "Already Dead" |
|
| 3:51 |
3. | "You Wouldn't Understand" |
|
| 2:50 |
4. | "Wandered to LA" (with Justin Bieber) |
| 3:08 | |
5. | "Eminem Speaks" |
| 2:13 | |
6. | "Rockstar in His Prime" |
| T-Minus | 3:00 |
7. | "Doom" |
| Take a Daytrip | 3:37 |
8. | "Go Hard" |
| KBeaZy | 2:14 |
9. | "Juice Wrld Speaks" | Higgins | 1:29 | |
10. | "Not Enough" |
|
| 2:51 |
11. | "Feline" (with Polo G and Trippie Redd) |
|
| 3:32 |
12. | "Relocate" |
| Mira | 3:28 |
13. | "Juice Wrld Speaks 2" |
| Rex Kudo | 3:10 |
14. | "Until the Plug Comes Back Around" |
|
| 2:53 |
15. | "From My Window" |
|
| 3:07 |
16. | "Girl of My Dreams" (with Suga of BTS) |
|
| 3:46 |
17. | "Feel Alone" |
| Danny Wolf | 3:50 |
18. | "My Life in a Nutshell" |
| Mira | 3:08 |
Total length: | 55:45 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
8. | "Go Hard 2.0" |
| KBeaZy | 3:35 |
Total length: | 59:20 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
3. | "Cigarettes" |
| Mira | 3:47 |
Total length: | 63:07 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
5. | "Sometimes" |
|
| 4:20 |
22. | "Rich and Blind" |
|
| 3:09 |
23. | "Legends" |
|
| 3:12 |
Total length: | 74:15 |
Personnel
edit- Juice Wrld – lead vocals
- Emerson Mancini – mastering (1, 4–9, 11–18)
- Colin Leonard – mastering (2, 3)
- Dale Becker – mastering (10)
- Ethan Stevens – mixing (1)
- Manny Marroquin – mixing (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11–13, 15–18)
- Max Lord – mixing (3, 6, 8, 14), recording (1, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14–18)
- Serban – mixing (10)
- Joey Galvan – recording (2)
- Louis Bell – recording (4), vocal editing (4), vocal production (4)
- Austin Patton – recording (5, 9)
- Patrick Ehrenblad-Plummer – recording (6)
- Fili Filizzola – recording (10)
- Logan Haynes – recording (13)
- Viko Marley – recording arrangement (11)
- Chris Galland – mastering assistance (1), mixing assistance (2)
- Robin Florent – mastering assistance (1), mixing assistance (2)
- Zach Pereyra – mastering assistance (1), mixing assistance (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11–13, 15–18)
- Anthony Vilchis – mixing assistance (4, 5, 7, 9, 11–13, 15–18)
- Evan Jordan – recording assistance (16)
- James Kang – recording assistance (16)
- Camella Wallace – additional vocals (12)
Charts
edit
Weekly chartsedit
|
Year-end chartsedit
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Certifications
editRegion | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI)[48] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
editRegion | Date | Label(s) | Format(s) | Edition | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Various | December 10, 2021 | Standard | [49] | ||
March 18, 2022 | [50] |
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ McKinney, Jessica (December 10, 2021). "Juice WRLD's 'Fighting Demons' Was Made With a Message in Mind". Complex. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
- ^ a b Amorosi, A. D. (December 10, 2021). "The Late Juice WRLD's 'Fighting Demons' Has Doom, Death and Duets With BTS' Suga and Justin Bieber: Album Review". Variety. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
- ^ "Juice WRLD's Estate Announces New Album 'Fighting Demons'". Rap-Up. November 11, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (November 12, 2021). "Juice WRLD – "Already Dead"". Stereogum. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Juice Wrld Chart History (Billboard Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
- ^ Brandle, Lars (December 3, 2021). "Juice WRLD Fights Demons on 'Wandered to LA' With Justin Bieber: Listen". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
- ^ McCloud, Taylor (December 10, 2021). "Cole Bennett Delivers Touching Tribute At First Annual Juice WRLD Day In Chicago". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ DJ First Class (December 15, 2021). "Juice WRLD Day: The most memorable moments". Revolt. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ ""Girl Of My Dreams" (with Suga from BTS) Digital Single". Juice WRLD | 999 CLUB. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
- ^ Callender, Brandon (February 2, 2022). "Listen to Juice WRLD's "Cigarettes"". The Fader. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- ^ Callas, Brad (February 2, 2022). "Juice WRLD Estate Shares New Material With 'Fighting Demons (Complete Edition)'". Complex. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
- ^ Mahadevan, Tara C. (March 18, 2022). "Juice WRLD's 'Fighting Demons (Digital Deluxe Edition)' Adds New Song "Sometimes" and 4 Previously Released Tracks". Complex. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
- ^ a b "Fighting Demons by Juice WRLD Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
- ^ a b Thomas, Fred. "Fighting Demons – Juice WRLD". AllMusic. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
- ^ a b Murray, Robin (November 10, 2021). "Juice WRLD – Fighting Demons". Clash. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
- ^ a b Cummings-Grady, Mackenzie (December 13, 2021). "Review – Juice WRLD's 'Fighting Demons' Is A Gut-Wrenching But Rewarding Listen". HipHopDX. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
- ^ a b Williams, Kyann-Sian (December 10, 2021). "Juice WRLD – 'Fighting Demons' review: posthumous album deepens rapper's narrative". NME. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
- ^ Green, Dylan (December 20, 2021). "Juice WRLD: Fighting Demons Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
- ^ Juon, Steve "Flash" (April 26, 2022). "Juice WRLD :: Fighting Demons". RapReviews. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ a b Dukes, Will (December 16, 2021). "Juice WRLD's Second Posthumous Album Sounds like It Could've Been Recorded Yesterday". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (December 19, 2021). "Adele's '30' Spends Fourth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ "Juice Wrld Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
- ^ "Juice Wrld: Fighting Demons" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
- ^ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ "Italiancharts.com – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
- ^ "2021 50-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ "Charts.nz – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ "Juice Wrld Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
- ^ "Juice Wrld Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2022" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
- ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
- ^ "British album certifications – Juice Wrld – Fighting Demons". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
- ^ Brandle, Lars (December 10, 2021). "Juice WRLD's Posthumous Album 'Fighting Demons' Is Here: Listen". Billboard. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "Juice WRLD – Fighting Demons". Record Store Day. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
– "Juice WRLD – Fighting Demons [2LP]". Record Store Day. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
– "Juice WRLD – Fighting Demons [Clear Cassette]". Record Store Day. Retrieved March 9, 2022.