Posted by The last posthumous song by Juice WRLD is Lace It, featuring Eminem and Benny Blanco, and the lyrics have a heavy meaning about drug addiction: let’s discover it.
We still haven’t moved on from the death of Juice WRLD, that weird day in 2019. His music keeps staying with us, with many tracks released lately, even though he’s no longer among us. The last one is Lace It, a collaboration with Eminem and Benny Blanco, released in December 2023: a song with a powerful meaning, exploring the aspects and the consequences of drug addiction, which was the cause of his death. The lyrics are long and full of aspects: let’s go a little deeper inside them.
You can find the complete lyrics and the official audio for Lace It at the end of this article.
Lace It: the song lyrics & the meaning
Lace It is a song about the danger and the consequences of drug addiction: in the lyrics, Eminem lists all the rappers who died because of it, also describing how close he got to death in his life. The song represents a warning from someone who knows how it could end: at the end of the song, Eminem explicitly invites the young generation to “be careful.”
In urban slang, lacing is the act of adding one or more additional substances to a drug. It’s a frequent practice in the young generation lately, giving birth to a new set of popular combinations. They are often mentioned in modern rap songs: “lean,” which is often mentioned in Lace It, is probably one of the most common mixes today, and it also was the protagonist of the 2022 hit Poland by Lil Yachty.
In Lace It, the chorus is on Juice WRLD: he describes how obsessively has substances, symbolically comparing himself to someone living in the Matrix, taking pills to keep living (it’s a reference to The Matrix‘s famous scene with the blue and red pills, where Neo has to choose how to continue his life). “Purple rain” is another slang for lean, a double reference mixed with Prince’s famous song. Prince is mentioned by Eminem in the song, together with other artists who died because of drugs, but the Purple Rain mentioned by Prince in his track has nothing to do with drugs (Prince’s Purple Rain was a metaphor for the end of the world).
Roll it up, lace it, pop a few to chase it
I’m in my own Matrix, none of this s–t makes sense
All these humans basic, don’t got no home trainin’
Codeine by the cases, I’ve been purple rainin’
When Eminem takes over, he first describes how close he was to death because of his addiction to methadone (in 2007, he was hospitalized for an overdose, and the doctors said he was “about 2 hours from dying). Eminem explains he started with ecstasy, then changed into a painkillers addiction. Regarding this, he recently confessed in an interview he was having 75-80 Valium a night in that period.
You pop some ecstasy first, it gets progressively worse
Try your best to reverse unsuccessfully flirtin’ with certain death and revertin’ to your promethazine urge
The f–kin’ devil he lurks, lose your best friend he smirks
Wake up and everything hurts and as you spiral downward
After listing many addicting medicines to be careful about, Eminem starts counting all the artists who died because of overdose: Shock G, a member of the hip hop group Digital Underground, died in 2021; Lil Peep left us in 2017, and ODB is Ol’ Dirty Bastard, the founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan, who died in 2004. Eminem also mentions Gangsta Boo, who passed away in 2023, and Pimp C, killed by lean in 2007. Besides, he goes back in history, summoning the names of Prince and Michael Jackson, whose deaths were also connected with drug abuse.
Fentanyl, Oxy
Demerol, them are all what possibly got Shock G, Roxy
Codone and lean is probably what got Lil Peep and ODB
So many who OD be way too young to go see me
I was lucky my escape was narrow and do
Nothing I take it for granted that I’m still here synthetic heroin you
Tried to kill me then you murdered Jarad didn’t you
Piece of s–t thanks to you now we lost Gangsta Boo and Pimp C, Prince and Michael mixing Nyquil
With prescription Vic’s addiction’s like a f–king vicious cycle
Juice we will forever miss you
To the younger generation I ain’t lecturing you but man just be careful
His bar ends with his homage to Juice WRLD and a warning to today’s young people: be careful. Eminem represents the older generation in all this, that’s why he says he doesn’t want to lecture anyone. Nevertheless, his experience with drugs has changed his life, and Eminem has been sober since 2008. He personally symbolizes the real meaning of Lace It lyrics: Juice WRLD died because of drugs, together with a lot of other artists who could still be among us if it wasn’t for their addiction, so be careful. All this, mixed with Juice WRLD’s words describing his drug consumption, makes the song particularly touching.
Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave
The official streaming and the complete lyrics
Roll it up, lace it, pop a few to chase it
I’m in my own Matrix, none of this s–t makes sense
All these humans basic, don’t got no home trainin’
Codeine by the cases, I’ve been purple rainin’
Roll it up, lace it, pop a few, chase it
I’ve been in the Matrix, none of this s–t makes sense
All you humans basic, you ain’t even got home trainin’
Codeine by the cases, I’ve been purple rainin’
Stressed out, so I tend to take meds (Take meds)
Thе Devil told me, “Good show, break a lеg” (Break a leg)
All these painkillers like I got a pair of broken legs (Broken legs)
All these Percs I pop, you’d thought I was plannin’ to break my neck
Grindin’ man, I’m hungry for this s–t like I ain’t ate yet
You wish that you could have what I could have, you could just say that
If you ain’t my lil’ b- -h, then, b- -h, them convos, you can save that
These n–as think they invincible ’til they see them bullet holes in they Maybach
Roll it up, lace it, pop a few to chase it
I’m in my own Matrix, none of this s–t makes sense
All these humans basic, don’t got no home trainin’
Codeine by the cases, I’ve been purple rainin’
Roll it up, lace it, pop a few, chase it
I’ve been in the Matrix, none of this s–t makes sense
All you humans basic, you don’t even got home trainin’
Codeine by the cases (Yeah), I’ve been purple rainin’
(Eminem)
You pop some ecstasy first, it gets progressively worse
Try your best to reverse unsuccessfully flirtin’ with certain death and revertin’ to your promethazine urge
The f–kin’ devil he lurks, lose your best friend he smirks
Wake up and everything hurts and as you spiral downward listen
I know just how it is when
You start slow then before you notice it now you’re mixin’
Oxy’s without prescription
Cough medicine, valium with ’em but ain’t that how addiction
Sort of works they call it lean ’cause you gravitate and lean towards the perp
The blessing or the curse of fame ’cause now you can afford the syrup
Percocet and Percoden but that ain’t what you meant when you said that you’re in it for the perks
Develop a habit out of that
Need a Xanax now to rap
So you pop it before you record a verse
Your buzz wear down
Like a rabbit out a hat
Makes you wanna pull your hair out
Fentanyl, Oxy
Demerol, them are all what possibly got Shock G, Roxy
Codone and lean is probably what got Lil Peep and ODB
So many who OD be way too young to go see me
I was lucky my escape was narrow and do
Nothing I take it for granted that I’m still here synthetic heroin you
Tried to kill me then you murdered Jarad didn’t you
Piece of s–t thanks to you now we lost Gangsta Boo and Pimp C, Prince and Michael mixing Nyquil
With prescription Vic’s addiction’s like a f–king vicious cycle
Juice we will forever miss you
To the younger generation I ain’t lecturing you but man just be careful when you
Roll it up, lace it, pop a few to chase it
I’m in my own Matrix, none of this s–t makes sense
All these humans basic, don’t got no home trainin’
Codeine by the cases, I’ve been purple rainin’
Roll it up, lace it, pop a few, chase it
I’ve been in the Matrix, none of this s–t makes sense
All you humans basic, you don’t even got home trainin’
Codeine by the cases, I’ve been purple rainin’
I ain’t comin’ down from this high
Ain’t finna let nobody kill my vibe
They committed social suicide
But me? I refuse to die (I refuse to die)
I will never come down from this high
I won’t let them kill none of my vibes
They committed social suicide
Me? I can never ever die, I can never ever die
