Purple Drank

2000catchphraseclassic

Published September 23, 2026

Purple Drank, also called Lean or sizzurp, is a codeine-and-promethazine cough syrup cocktail that Houston DJ Screw turned into a signature ritual of the chopped and screwed rap scene in the 1990s1. The mix went nationwide after Three 6 Mafia's 2000 hit "Sippin' on Some Syrup" and later became meme fodder for a decade of YouTube tutorials, Vice documentaries, and Lil Wayne hospitalization headlines2.

hip hop memesslang memesmusic memesurban dictionary memesaave memes

Overview

Purple Drank, also known as Lean, sizzurp, syrup, or barre, is a mix of prescription cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine, poured over a soft drink (usually Sprite) in a Styrofoam cup, sometimes with a Jolly Rancher dropped in for flavor1. The purple tint that gave the drink its name comes from the dye in the codeine syrup itself, and copycat mixes using different colored syrups gained names like "yellow syrup" and "pink syrup"3.

As an internet artifact, Purple Drank is less a single meme and more a decades-long visual shorthand: double-cupped foam cups, tilted-head album covers, and slowed-down audio all point back to it. The drink is inseparable from chopped and screwed music, a Houston remix style that drops tracks below 70 BPM to mirror the sedative haze of codeine3. On YouTube, any heavily slowed edit is casually labeled "chopped and screwed," cementing the link in meme vocabulary2.

Origin & Background

Platform
Houston hip hop scene (offline) / YouTube and Urban Dictionary (online spread)
Creator
DJ Screw
Date
2000

The drink was popularized in the early-to-mid 1990s by Houston producer DJ Screw, who built the chopped and screwed sound around its slowed, sedated feel1. The term went national in June 2000 when Three 6 Mafia released "Sippin' on Some Syrup" featuring UGK, which put the phrases "purple drank" and "lean" in front of a mainstream rap audience3.

Online documentation followed. On May 9, 2005, Urban Dictionary user "the ju1ce" submitted the first widely referenced entry for "purple drank," defining it as cough syrup mixed with Sprite in a Styrofoam cup2. An earlier October 1, 2003 Urban Dictionary entry by user "magnum" defined the related term "chopped and screwed" as the song-editing technique pioneered by DJ Screw3.

How It Spread

Purple Drank's move from Houston clubs to internet vocabulary happened through Urban Dictionary entries, YouTube uploads, and rap coverage. After the 2005 Urban Dictionary entry, YouTubers started uploading chopped and screwed edits: on April 5, 2006, user scil posted a slowed remix of a Mobile, Alabama news report about a "wild leprechaun," which pulled in more than 800,000 views over seven years3.

Mainstream press coverage arrived in the early 2010s. On October 26, 2011, Vice released a documentary about purple drank and the chopped and screwed scene in Houston4. A few months later, on January 13, 2012, YouTuber 623SmokeBreeze uploaded a "how to make purple drank" tutorial that pulled roughly 89,000 views inside 14 months5. Rappers including Drake, A$AP Rocky, Chief Keef, Kendrick Lamar, and Young Thug all worked the drink into their lyrics3.

The defining news moment came on March 15, 2013, when TMZ reported that Lil Wayne had been hospitalized in critical condition after an alleged codeine overdose, with doctors reportedly pumping his stomach three times3. Lil Wayne tweeted the next day that he was fine, which turned the incident itself into a widely shared moment tying purple drank to celebrity risk.

How to Use This Meme

Purple Drank shows up in memes and rap references as a visual and audio shorthand. Common conventions include a double Styrofoam cup held up to the camera, purple-tinted liquid in a Sprite bottle, or a slowed-down audio edit tagged "chopped and screwed." Lyrics often pair it with words like "lean," "pour up," or "double cup."

Frequently Asked Questions