Jarad Anthony Higgins didn't start out as a global superstar with billions of streams. Before the world knew him as Juice WRLD, he was just a kid in Homewood, Illinois, navigating a life that was surprisingly structured given the raw, chaotic emotion he’d later pour into his music. If you want to understand the "Lucid Dreams" singer, you have to look at the environment that raised him. It wasn't some gritty, cinematic struggle in the heart of the city; it was a complex, suburban upbringing defined by a strict religious mother and a massive, untapped creative energy.
The Reality of Juice WRLD's Childhood in Calumet Park and Homewood
Jarad was born in Chicago in 1998, but he didn't stay in the city long. His parents divorced when he was just three years old. That's a pivotal moment. His father left the picture, leaving his mother, Carmella Wallace, to raise Jarad and his older brother alone. They moved to the south suburbs, eventually settling in Homewood. This wasn't the "hood" narrative people often project onto rappers. Homewood-Flossmoor is a middle-class area.
But don't mistake suburban for easy.
Carmella was a very conservative, religious woman. She kept a tight leash on what her sons listened to. Honestly, it’s kinda ironic when you think about his career. The man who became a pioneer of "emo rap" wasn't even allowed to listen to hip-hop at home during his formative years. His mom viewed rap as "devil's music" or at least too vulgar for a Christian household. So, what did Jarad listen to instead? He found a loophole. He played video games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Guitar Hero.
Those soundtracks were his classroom.
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Because he couldn't blast Lil Wayne or Jay-Z, he was soaking up pop-punk, emo, and rock. We're talking Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Billy Idol, and Black Sabbath. This is exactly why his music eventually sounded the way it did. He wasn't a rapper trying to sound like a rockstar; he was a kid raised on rock who happened to start rapping. He once mentioned in an interview with Hot 97 that "Megadeth" was one of his early favorites. That's a deep cut for a kid from the Chicago suburbs.
A Multi-Instrumentalist in the Making
People see a rapper and assume they just talk over beats. Jarad was different. His mother, despite her strictness about lyrics, was incredibly supportive of his actual musicality. She paid for piano lessons starting when he was only four years old. Four. Think about that. Most kids are barely mastering finger painting, and he was learning scales.
He didn't stop at the keys. He picked up the guitar and the drums. He even played the trumpet in the school band. This technical foundation gave him an "ear" that most of his peers lacked. When you hear him freestyle for an hour straight on Tim Westwood TV, that’s not just luck. That’s a brain that has been wired for melody and rhythm since preschool. He understood how a song was built from the ground up.
School life at Homewood-Flossmoor High School was a mixed bag for him. He wasn't a "star student" in the traditional sense, but he wasn't invisible either. He was the kid who would freestyle in the hallways, leaning against the lockers, proving to anyone who would listen that he could out-rhyme them. Teachers remembered him as bright but often distracted. He was living in his own head. He was already "Juice" by then—a nickname inspired by his haircut, which resembled Tupac Shakur's in the movie Juice.
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The Darker Side of the Suburbs
It would be a lie to say his childhood was all piano lessons and video games. Jarad started struggling with substance abuse way earlier than most people realize. In several interviews, he admitted to using lean (codeine cough syrup) as early as the sixth grade. By the time he was in high school, he was experimenting with Percocet and Xanax.
It's a heavy reality.
Why? It wasn't necessarily about "being cool." Jarad was open about his anxiety and the feeling of being an outsider even in a crowded room. The suburbs can be isolating. The pressure to conform to his mother’s religious expectations while feeling the pull of the burgeoning "SoundCloud rap" scene created a friction in him. He was a "good kid" who felt a lot of pain. He used his childhood experiences with these substances as the primary subject matter for his early tracks like "Forever" and "Paranoid," which he uploaded under the name JuicetheKidd.
How the Divorce Impacted His Music
The absence of his father stayed with him. While Carmella Wallace did everything she could, Jarad clearly felt that void. He didn't reconnect with his father in a meaningful way until much later, and even then, it was complicated. That sense of abandonment is a recurring theme in his lyrics. It’s why so many of his songs feel like a plea for love or a cry about being misunderstood. He was a sensitive kid. He felt everything at a ten, and the divorce was the first big wound.
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Transitioning from Jarad to Juice WRLD
By his sophomore and junior years of high school, the music was becoming everything. He started taking it seriously. He wasn't just messing around. He was recording songs on his cell phone and posting them to SoundCloud.
The influence of his childhood environment is all over those early uploads. You can hear the mid-2000s emo influence in his vocal delivery. He wasn't trying to be a "tough guy." He was being Jarad. He wore his heart on his sleeve because that's how he survived his teenage years in Homewood. His mother eventually relented on the hip-hop ban, seeing that her son had a genuine gift. In a way, her strictness actually helped him. Because he was "starved" of rap for so long, when he finally got into it—listening to Chief Keef and Kid Cudi—he approached it with a completely fresh perspective.
He merged the "Sosa" energy of Chicago drill with the "Cudi" vulnerability of a lonely kid. That's the recipe that eventually led to "All Girls Are the Same."
Actionable Insights for Fans and Creators
Understanding Juice WRLD's childhood provides more than just trivia; it offers a blueprint for understanding the "SoundCloud Generation" and the importance of diverse influences.
- Look Beyond the Genre: Jarad’s success came from his "forbidden" childhood listening habits. If you’re a creator, don't just consume what’s popular in your field. Listen to what you aren't "supposed" to. That’s where your unique "sound" lives.
- Acknowledge the Role of Early Education: The piano lessons his mother insisted on were the foundation of his career. Formal musical training, even in a different genre, provides a massive advantage in modern digital production.
- The Power of Local Identity: Juice WRLD didn't pretend to be from the South Side "trenches." He leaned into his suburban, emo-influenced reality. Authenticity resonates more than a manufactured persona.
- Mental Health Awareness: His early start with substance abuse serves as a sobering reminder of how childhood anxiety and trauma can manifest. It highlights the need for early intervention and open conversations about mental health in school and at home.
The story of Jarad Higgins is one of a gifted, sensitive boy who turned a structured, suburban childhood into a legendary, albeit short-lived, career. He was a product of his mother's discipline, the melodies of the piano, the angst of pop-punk, and the raw honesty of the Chicago rap scene.