Purple Drank, Arthur Ditner

Keyword: Purple Drank Submission: Meme collection

Purple Drank

Arthur Ditner

Description: A collection of meme-culture related images and assets associated with Purple Drank. Seeing images such as the ones provided on clothing, hats, backpacks, stickers on laptops, etc, could be a red-flag of adolescent codeine abuse.

Origin: Purple Drank refers to recreational abuse of Benadryl and other over-the-counter cough syrups. The term also carries a connection to a subgenre of hip-hop, internet meme culture, remix culture, lifestyle, and used as a general slang term.

Purple Drank is shorthand for consuming intoxicating amounts of cough syrup. The active ingredients creating a “high” include promethazine, codeine, and/or dextromethorphan. Not all cough syrups have codeine as an active ingredient but other varieties produce similar effects.

Other terms for this street drug include: lean, dex, dxm, syrup, sizzurp, and drank. When consumed in excessive amounts, users are exposed to a powerful dissociative drug that can produce hallucinations. Purple Drank produces highs that have been compared to ecstasy and ketamine. Side effects include excessive pupil dilation, sweating, high blood pressure, slow breathing, and seizures. It is possible to overdose and require medical intervention when on this drug.

Since the active ingredients can be purchased within over-the-counter medication, teenagers in particular are susceptible to abuse. The drug is disproportionately popular amongst visible minorities and LGBT communities (Addictive Behaviors, 2448). Purple Drank is often diluted with Sprite and is often mixed with Jolly Ranchers for additional flavour.

Celebrity culture: Purple Drank has been name checked for street cred by a number of celebrities including: Lil Wanye (rap), Justin Bieber (pop), and Korn (metal), however it is most closely associated with southern hip-hop culture. Over the last decade a number of high profile NFL players have been caught in possession of codeine paraphernalia including Purple Drank.

Music culture: A genre of music Chopped and Screwed is said to be directly influenced by codeine culture. Some features of this genre include a general tempo of 70bpm (compared to hiphop resting at 90bpm or higher), excessive use of reverb and/or delay, and pitch shifted vocals. A breakout hit single from this subculture was aptly named “Sippin’ on Some Syrup”. This aesthetic has evolved into yet another subgenre that is currently popular: vaporwave.

Internet Culture (See diagram on next page): For the last decade, Purple Drank has been a consistently popular internet search term. While overall interest has weaned over time, the longevity of the interest demonstrates that it is not a passing fad. It is interesting to mention that the United States searched for “purple drank” the most ten years ago, in the United Kingdom the same term was more popular five years ago, and the term is currently surging in Canada. According to Vice, prescription variants of Purple Drank, referred to as Lean, is experiencing a resurgence. In addition, cough syrup addiction is happening around the world. Many images remixed feature the character Homer Simpson in reference to the episode Flaming Moe’s (S3E10), in which the cast mix cough syrup with alcohol.

The imagery is so prevalent, Adobe offers professionally curated image assets available for purchase in their stock image store.

Purple Drank Search Trends USA Google Trends – past 10 years

UK Google Trends – past 10 years

Canada Google Trends – past 10 years

Abramovitch, S. (2013, March 15). Justin Bieber Arrest: What Is Sizzurp? The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/justin-bieber-arrest-what-is429205/

Agnich, Stogner, J. M., Miller, B. L., & Marcum, C. D. (2013). Purple drank prevalence and characteristics of misusers of codeine cough syrup mixtures. Addictive Behaviors, 38(9), 2445–2449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.03.020

Korn - Chopped, Screwed, Live & Unglued Album Reviews, Songs & More. (2006, September 26). AllMusic. https://www.allmusic.com/album/chopped-screwed-live-unglued-mw0000548431

Lee, C. (2016, June 14). Lil Wayne seizure puts spotlight on rappers’ use of “sizzurp.” Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-lil-wayne-sizzurpcodeine-20130321-story.html

Tanner, A. (2017, September 18). Purple Drank and the NFL: Johnny Jolly Isn’t the Only One Getting Caught. Bleacher Report. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/421758-purple-drank-andthe-nfl

Three6MafiaVEVO. (2009, October 25). Three 6 Mafia, UGK (Underground Kingz), Project Pat - Sippin On Some Syrup (video). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOWKGXpl9E0

Wikipedia contributors. (2022, November 6). Chopped and screwed. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopped_and_screwed