"I wish I'd gotten to spend more time with him," said British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding while recalling her song collaboration with the late rapper Juice WRLD.
Goulding had teamed up with Juice WRLD for her latest studio album, her first album in five years 'Brightest Blue' which got released on Friday.
In a chat session with Billboard, the 'Love me like you do' singer explained how she came across the art of the late rapper, and how impressed she was right in the first place.
Talking about the rapper's breakthrough song, the 33-year-old musician said, "When I'd heard 'Lucid Dreams' for the first time, I was like, 'Who is this?' and I don't have that moment very often with artists."Goulding says that she immediately wanted to know "everything about him," and after enquiring about Juice WRLD from Max Martin's camp, she reached out about having the rapper collaborate on "Hate Me," the 2019-released single.
According to Billboard, Juice WRLD passed away last December at the age of 20, after his collaboration with Goulding for the songs. In a bittersweet twist, Juice WRLD's first posthumous album, 'Legends Never Die', was released on July 10, one week before 'Brightest Blue'.
"I wish I'd gotten to spend more time with him. I wish we'd gotten to live that song, together. ... He was at the beginning of some incredibly special journey, I think, and everyone was really excited for him. We were really excited for him, and, yeah, it's just painfully sad," she added.
Goulding's latest album is Split Into Two Halves and features an a-team of guests including Lauv, black bear, Diplo, Swae Lee, and writer-and-producer assists from Tobias Jesso Jr., Starsmith, ILYA, serpentwithfeet, Chairlift's Patrick Wimberly and Jim Eliot.
'Brightest Blue' carries the previously-released tracks 'Worry About Me', 'Power', 'Slow Grenade', and 2019 tunes 'Close To Me' and 'Hate Me'.
( With inputs from ANI )