"Both artists had mutual respect for each other’s art, even coming from two totally different genres," the Jamaican producer tells Billboard of Juice & Anuel AA.
“No Me Ame” — the song and video featuring the late Juice WRLD with Anuel AA and Jamaican producer Rvssian — was released Friday (April 17). But the song was conceived and recorded months ago, before Juice WRLD’s death in December from an accidental overdose. The notion came from Rvssian, who had worked with Juice WRLD on his last album, Death Race for Love, and had a relationship with him and his team at the label Grade A.
“I was also working with Anuel at the time,” Rvssian tells Billboard exclusively. “I made the track and felt Juice would fit the whole vibe. So I presented to him and it clicked.”
Bringing Juice WRLD together with Anuel made sense to Rvssian. “I like to bring artists I work with together for the culture, no matter the genre,” he says. “I felt this collaboration was perfect due to the vibe of the track. And both artists had mutual respect for each other’s art, even coming from two totally different genres.”
With the track done last year, by the time Juice WRLD died, plans were already underway to shoot the video in January. Following his death, Rvssian and Anuel moved ahead with the video anyway, paying homage to Juice WRLD with the use of imagery and the last shot, where lit lanterns are released into the sky, forming the numbers 999.
“We wanted to pay respect and honor him in the video and let his legacy continue to live on,” Rvssian says.