Dan
Flavin Roberto Escamilla Nate Donohoe
Music Critics Desk
2018 was filled with new artists reaching star
level, but one stood out. Juice WRLD went from unknown to not only running the
year in pure sales, but he has become a fan favorite from his personality and
talent.
Juice WRLD’s explosion of fame was kicked off by his “All Girls Are the
Same” music video shot by Cole Bennett. He started out the year with around
2,500 followers in Instagram, but after the release of the video on Feb. 24,
his follower count grew to over 60,000. His rise didn’t stop there. The song
and video kept getting attention and so did he. By the end of March, he was
over 100,000 followers. His social media numbers aren’t the only indicator of
his growth. Juice then dropped a video for his single “Lucid Dreams” which
collected a total of 259,000,000 views as of Dec. 13. His debut album “Goodbye
and Good RIddance” released in late May sold 39,000 units debuting at number 15
on the Billboard 200 chart.
Juice started the year off huge, but he didn’t stop there. In early July
he made headlines for freestyling for over an hour straight on Tim Westwood TV
and gained respect that takes most new artists years to gain. People instantly
knew that the 19-year-old rapper was the real deal. Two months later he
released his next project and the wait was worth it. On Oct. 19 he released
“Wrld on Drugs,” his collab album with trap legend Future. He again proved his
versatility by not only singing songs about his past love life but rapping
about his come up and earnings from rapping. At the same time, his breakout
single “Lucid Dreams” hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 R&B/ Hip-Hop
Chart. Juice was also nominated for MTV’s song of the summer for “Lucid Dreams”
and BET’s Best New Hip-Hop Artist. He ended the year with a track in the
“Marvel Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” soundtrack. He was named Apple
Music’s and Spotify’s breakout artist of the year amassing one-billion streams
on Spotify in just his first year of fame.
Juice Wrld’s talent, sales, Rockstar personality, and quick rise make him
easily 2018’s breakout artist of the year.
