TMZ.com

Juice WRLD's family is breaking their silence on the death of the 21-year-old rapper, shedding light on his battle with prescription drug abuse and his fight to help others beat their addictions.

In an exclusive statement to TMZ, the late rapper's mom, Carmella Wallace, says, "We loved Jarad with all of our hearts and cannot believe our time with him has been cut short. As he often addressed in his music and to his fans, Jarad battled with prescription drug dependency."

Juice rapped about drugs often, something his family says wasn't to promote using ... but instead to help those battling addiction who may have felt alone in their fight.

His mom continues, "Addiction knows no boundaries and its impact goes way beyond the person fighting it. Jarad was a son, brother, grandson, friend and so much more to so many people who wanted more than anything to see him defeat addiction."

DaBaby taketh, and DaBaby giveth right back -- at least that's what one ecstatic fan learned when she ran into him at a gas station and freaked the hell out.

Alexandria Coleman tells TMZ ... the rapper hooked her and her friends up with free tickets to a makeup show -- one they kinda got the shaft on, originally.

Long story short, Alexandria says she was supposed to catch DaBaby in D.C. last weekend, but because of his 'SNL' appearance, it got bumped to Sunday night -- which sold out before she could score seats.

So, how's this for a stroke of luck? Alexandria ran into DB by total chance at a gas station as she was driving from D.C. back to Albany, NY. The run-in went kinda as you'd expect -- panicked, but also gleeful.

DaBaby and his team -- whom we're told were already recording some shenanigans -- noticed her pure excitement, and captured most of it on camera. You gotta see the moment they finally came face-to-face in an aisle ... and he ended up cradled in her arms.

They don't call him DaBaby for nothin'.

Alexandria tells us his team promised to get them into the sold-out D.C. show -- and come the day of the show, we're told he snuck them in through the back for the best seats in the house.

Juice WRLD's 2018 arrest at LaGuardia Airport had nothing to do with racial profiling -- so say law enforcement sources ... who claim it was a standard luggage check that led to his bust.

We broke the story ... the late rapper's friends are pissed because they believe his history of run-ins with cops at airports -- like the LaGuardia arrest -- show he was targeted, and they think it's simply because he's a rich, young, black man.

However, law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Juice checked his bag at the NYC airport last year and it was put on a carousel at the ticket counter to go through the jumbo x-ray machine -- just like all the other checked luggage.

We're told JW's bag triggered an anti-terrorism alarm signaling organic materials were potentially inside ... which can be used to make bombs.

So, TSA conducted a search of the bag, but instead of discovering bomb-making ingredients ... agents allegedly found marijuana and bottles of codeine and notified law enforcement, which we're told is standard procedure.

Our sources say cops then searched the bag, confirmed it contained more than 2 ounces of marijuana and codeine and was Juice WRLD's luggage. We're told the rapper had already boarded his Southwest flight by that time, but cops got to him before it took off ... and arrested him once he admitted the bag and contents inside were his.

Juice WRLD will be getting multiple shout-outs at the music festival where he was supposed to perform this weekend -- and they'll be coming from 3 of his closest friends in the biz.

Sources familiar with the plans tell TMZ ... Lil Pump, Lil Mosey and Tyla Yaweh are all planning to pay tribute to Juice during their sets at Rolling Loud Los Angeles. They're all scheduled to perform Saturday.

Juice himself was supposed to be taking the stage as well -- in fact, he was one of the bigger names headlining Saturday's show.

We're told Pump's tribute will involve performing some of Juice's songs and/or displaying a video of him behind the stage at Banc of California Stadium. It's still unclear what the other artists will do to honor their friend.

Aside from those 3 we know about ... it's a safe bet several other artists will have something to say about Juice when they get on the mic.

A$AP Rocky is back in the land of milk and honey -- where he was once jailed for weeks on end -- and despite some stormy weather, he's having a blast with locals this time around.

Flacko was seen leaving his hotel in Stockholm Wednesday a few hours before he's set to take the stage at the Ericsson Globe arena. A$AP had one of his handlers holding an umbrella, but he's hardly trying to go incognito.

This is the first time Rocky's been back in Sweden since he was released from custody in August, during his assault trial ... and he's spending a lot of time in "the slums" ... his words. He'd told us he wanted to go to an area known as the "no go zone" to spend time with underprivileged fans -- and he's true to word.

You'll recall ... A$AP also wanted to go back to the prison where he was held for a month to perform for the inmates. Prison officials seemed open to it at first -- but he got shot down at the last second, when he finally submitted a formal request.

Sweden's Prison and Probation Service cited overcrowding at their facility and other security and logistical concerns for not accommodating the rapper.

All good though ... he's gonna do his own thing across the way in front of folks who love him. No harm, no foul.

Fat Joe won't get in between Nick Cannon and Eminem's fresh rap beef -- even though he helped start it -- but what he will support ... a good, old-fashioned battle of the bars.

We got Joey Crack in NYC Tuesday and asked for the man himself to weigh in on how this war of words is unfolding between NC and Slim Shady. After all, he did let Em get on his track, "Lord Above," and throw the initial barbs about Nick's baby mama, Mariah Carey.

In his feature, Eminem says he tried warning Nick about Mariah before the "Wild 'N Out" host "got his jewels clipped" and goes on to say Nick is "p***y whipped" ... not to mention calling him out by name. It all dates back to a decade-old beef Em seemed eager to revive.

Now, back to Joe ... the guy actually tried claiming innocence with us, saying he's nothing more than a bystander here who's worked with and respects both guys. FJ tells us he bears no responsibility -- even though it was his song that kicked this off.

Chris Brown just introduced the world to his new baby son ... Aeko Catori Brown.

CB posted the first pic of his and Ammika Harris' new son Wednesday on Instagram. He simply captioned it with his son's name. Ammika posted the same picture on her Instagram Story and captioned it, "Forever won't be enough with you."

As we reported back in November ... Chris welcomed his second child with his ex. At the time, both of them posted cryptic messages on social media alluding to the birth of their child.

Chris had posted a pic of himself smiling and looking down at something off-camera with the caption of the date ... 11-20-19. We now know he was proudly looking down at Aeko. Ammika had also alluded to the child's birth on her Instagram Story, writing ... "I was in love, when I first saw you."

This is CB and Ammika's first child together. It's Ammika's first child and CB's second child. He has a 5-year-old daughter named Royalty with Nia Guzman.

Lizzo's mic cut out repeatedly at a big gig in Indianapolis, but she didn't just get named Entertainer of the Year for nothing ... and made sure the show went on.

The "Truth Hurts" singer was the headliner Tuesday night at the 99.5 ZPL Jingle Jam at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but midway through her second song, "Cuz I Love You" ... technical glitches made things less than good as hell.

Lizzo's wireless microphone went silent and she didn't know it, and for some reason ... nobody alerted her until she'd powered through the rest of the track unaware nobody could hear her.

Tyler, the Creator's new piece pays homage to himself, his alter ego and his latest album ... and it's helping a celebrity jeweler close out the year with a bang.

The eccentric rapper's chain features a pendant of IGOR -- the alter ego he debuted this year -- and it's dripping in a variety of diamonds. Blue, black, white and even chocolate and cognac diamonds, to be specific!

It's made out of 18k gold and comes with a shiny "T" clasp for the chain and "IGOR" emblazoned on the back.

The jeweler, Ben Baller, points out the intricacies of the piece ... including how the gradient levels of brown match Tyler's IGOR's skin tone when the light hits it, and how you can make out the curvature of the nose.

Baller's clearly proud of his handiwork -- which he says is his final piece of the decade -- and Tyler is too. Good reason for pride all round ... the thing cost $275,000!!!

Cardi B knows how to make an entrance ... especially at a courthouse where she's facing multiple criminal charges.

The rapper arrived in Queens Tuesday for a hearing in her strip club beatdown case, and was dressed in a large feather/furry coat with a long train dragging behind her. In other words ... fashion gala-ready fab!!!

She appeared to be in good spirits too ... she was flashing smiles for fans waiting nearby on the courthouse steps. It was a flashy entrance for a very brief and uneventful hearing where the next court was set for January.

Cardi pled not guilty in June to new charges, including attempted assault in the 2nd degree. Before that, she was indicted on 12 charges, including 2 counts of felony attempted assault with intent to cause serious physical injury.

As we reported ... this all came after Cardi rejected a plea deal in the case -- she was initially charged with just 2 misdemeanors for allegedly ordering an attack on 2 strip club bartenders who are sisters -- Jade and Baddie Gi -- back in August 2018.

Cardi's beef with the women allegedly stems from her belief Jade -- who's now Tekashi 6ix9ine's girlfriend -- slept with her husband, Offset.

Jade's been back in the picture recently too -- she put Offset on blast for allegedly slipping into her DMs and posted what she believes is video evidence.

Juice WRLD's death resonated with the fans everywhere, but his music might be having an even bigger impact right now ... because it's flooding almost every chart imaginable.

The rapper is running the board on digital platforms in the wake of his death Sunday in Chicago ... with several of JW's songs and albums claiming top spots on Amazon, Apple and Spotify -- seeing exponential surges of several thousand percentage points, in some cases.

Let's start with Amazon's Movers and Shakers list ... where Juice's single, "Legends," has risen in the ranks by a whopping 84,954% to reach #1 in just a couple days. Two of his other tracks -- "Lucid Dreams," both the explicit and clean versions -- are sitting at #2 and #3.

For albums, Juice's "Death Race For Love" and "Goodbye & Good Riddance" also claim the top 3 spots on Amazon's CDs and Vinyl list. In short, folks are swooping up his content.

On the Apple side of things, Juice WRLD is also toppling some of the hottest names in the game this past week -- including Roddy Ricch, The Weeknd, DaBaby and Trippie Redd. On the service's Top 100 songs chart, Juice claims 8 spots ... including #1, #2, #5 and #6.

And, if you thought your 2019 Spotify Wrapped list was set, it might just change this week based on how dominant Juice has been there too ... he's got 9 spots locked in alone.

Juice's Top 10 tracks on Spotify have also been getting tons of love (and plays) -- we're talking hundreds of thousands, especially "Lucid Dreams," which got streamed over 990k times since Sunday. Of course, Juice is no stranger to chart success -- 7 of his songs have made on Billboard, and 3 cracked the Top 10. He'll probably be up there again next week.

TMZ broke the story ... Juice suffered a fatal seizure early Sunday morning at Chicago's Midway Airport. Federal agents were there waiting for him and his entourage, and after conducting a search ... found tons of weed and a few guns on board.

We're told at some point in the search, Juice was seen ingesting multiple pills believed to be Percocet. Juice suffered a seizure shortly thereafter and died soon after that.

He was 21.

Nick Cannon's "The Invitation" is either a brilliant diss track Eminem can't possibly ignore -- or it's Nick's eulogy ... 'cause everyone thinks Em is about to destroy him.

Gotta hand it to Nick ... he pulled out every weapon in his arsenal for this one -- including dragging Eminem's ex-wife and daughter into his verses, and prison phone calls with Suge Knight talking smack about Em.

Suge suggests all of Detroit should give Eminem 24 hours to respond to Nick's diss track or kick him out of town. Again, a deeply personal shot against the "8 Mile" rapper.

On "The Invitation" -- which dropped Monday night -- Nick takes a homophobic shot at Em, rapping, "I heard your chauffeur got a video of you suckin' a c**k."

That did get Em to respond, on Twitter at least, where he demanded an apology ... from "Nicholas." It's a very Em response, and you can almost hear the birth of HIS response diss track.

This whole new beef is over the old Mariah beef that was reheated last week when Em rapped on a Fat Joe track about Mariah neutering Nick, and added, "I let her chop my balls off too before I lose to you, Nick."

Part of Nick's response in "The Invitation" goes ..."My baby mama killed you off a decade ago, You're still crying about it bitch, now who really the ho?"

Since last week, Nick's been trying -- almost daily -- to get Eminem to come on his MTV show, "Wild 'N Out," to settle the feud. Nick's diss track is just the latest, albeit well-produced, attempt to snare Em.

Whether or not Marshall does Nick's TV show, it seems certain he'll fire back with a track. Of course, 50 Cent's biased in this feud, but he more than hinted ... Nick should NOT want smoke with Em.

As far as who's winning this war right now? The internet seems to think it's Em, since #ripnickcannon was trending Tuesday morning.

Careful what you wish for?

Juice WRLD had a habit of taking up to 3 potent Percocet pills a day and would mix them with lean ... this according to his ex-girlfriend who claims the rapper became physically abusive when he tried to get clean.

Alexia Smith says she was in a relationship with the rapper for nearly a year in 2018 ... and in that time she'd see him pop pills with lean as he struggled with depression, which she says stemmed from previous heartbreaks and the feeling of being misunderstood.

Smith claims Juice also used weed, Xanax, Ecstasy, morphine and coke ... but Percocet and lean were his go-to vices. She says she tried helping WRLD get clean but, during his withdrawals, their arguments turned violent. In one instance, she claims Juice picked her off the ground and slammed her into a wall ... squeezing her so tight she came away bruised all over her arms.

Smith told the Daily Mail she started dating him in early 2018 ... and when he flew her out to L.A. where he was taking meetings with music labels, she noticed the new drug world surrounding him.

She claims that within days of arriving in L.A., someone from a label gave him morphine and cocaine. Smith says WRLD didn't use coke at the time but it wasn't long before he did.

As we first reported ... the feds were on Juice WRLD's tail long before Homeland Security agents searched Juice WRLD's private jet last week when it landed at Chicago's Midway Airport.

Joel Osteen's making it clear -- he would very much like for Kanye West and him to keep their holy get-togethers going into the new year and all over the country.

We spoke to the megachurch preacher Tuesday in NYC, and asked if he and Ye's Yankee Stadium stop next year is an omen -- meaning, more sermons and shows in multiple cities. Essentially, a national tour. Check it out ... Joel says he'd like that.

Now, he stopped short of a guarantee ... the deets are still being worked out. However, he did confirm at least 1 future location they're working on -- Ye's hometown of Chicago.

JO also told us a little bit about how he and his new partner-in-faith even crossed paths in the first place.

As for their potential collabs -- Joel might be on to something by teaming up with Yeezy. Their partnership has already paid dividends and publicity beyond their wildest dreams. You'll recall, Kanye's visit to Osteen's Lakewood Church turned out to be a ratings bonanza -- raking in millions of unique viewers across multiple platforms.

Our camera guy also got Joel's take on a subject that's been on a lot of people's minds since Ye started fully embracing his Christianity -- is he actually genuine about this???

French Montana is back on the social circuit ... hitting up a hot WeHo restaurant Monday night ... resurfacing in public after a prolonged, scary hospital stay.

French grabbed dinner with his pal, Megan Thee Stallion, at Catch restaurant. They arrived and left separately.

TMZ broke the story ... French was rushed to the hospital last month with an undisclosed illness ... with symptoms that included severe stomach pain and an elevated heart rate. He believes the problems surfaced as a result of seriously overworking.

He was laid up in ICU for 7 days before being moved to a private room. In all, he was hospitalized for nearly 2 weeks.

Doctors have ordered French to bed rest for 30 days. He's allowed to grab some grub, but no working, traveling, exercising, performing or partying ... though, since his new album, "Montana," just dropped.

Juice WRLD might've made a fatal decision as law enforcement searched his private jet -- swallowing a bunch of painkillers in an attempt to hide them from the feds.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the pilot who was flying Juice's private plane alerted authorities on the ground that the rapper's entourage had guns on them -- a big no-no in air travel. When they landed, FBI and FAA agents were waiting for Juice and company.

We're told at some point between the plane landing and the feds conducting their search ... Juice was seen swallowing several Percocet pills in what people believed was an attempt to hide them. Our sources say the pills might've contributed to his death in a possible OD.

An autopsy was performed on the rapper Monday, but additional testing, including toxicology, cardiac pathology and neuropathology is still needed before determining an official cause.