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Brady Aselton
Foster Bryant
Jack Rodenberger
Julian Thomas

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The art work we applied to the album cover needed to relate to the  dark purple, head-high, syrupy theme that emulates the effect of codeine. The point of titling the album "Purple Clouds" is to articulate the "head in the clouds" high feeling you get from the effects of codeine.  The art work on the front cover is called Codeine Dreams, by K'nori Bone, which captures the glowing euphoric theme that codeine has, and visualizes the feeling you get from listening to "lean music". The art work on the back is from a cover we found on from an artist on soundcloud, BIJOU. The artwork of the man in the hoodie has his face is replaced with the purple clouds of smoke reiterates the cloudy euphoric effect of codeine. The clouds in the background of both the front and back of the cover was complementary to the artwork we decided to use. Our inspiration for the album cover was from the DS2 album Future released in 2015. We used this as inspiration because this album as a whole visually, lyrically, and sonically embodies lean culture within the genre of hip hop.

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Hip-hop, like all large music genres, has multiple subgenres that emerge and integrate new styles and flows which constantly creates original sounds. Many artists use the effects of drugs as a source of creativity to create these new types of sounds. This happened with rock music and heroin during the epidemic in the 1980’s when music was slowed down and strung out because of the effect that heroin has on people. (Vice Youtube) Another opioid, codeine, was the number one influence of slower beats and deeper voices because it conveyed the effect of a drug when an artist is high. Rappers and others consume codeine by mixing pharmaceutical cough syrup with sprite and candy, which gives the user a euphoric high that is incredibly addictive.

Lean’s origins trace back to Houston, Texas, the place in which the recreational drug became ingrained into Hip-hop culture by an individual named DJ Screw. As an avid user of the drug, Screw’s music became a direct reflection of what it feels like to be on lean. He was the first person to chop up multiple songs and turn them into one, often utilizing a beat at a much slower tempo. “Screw would have two copies of the same record spinning on the turntables, one playing just behind the other, and he’d ‘chop’ back and forth between them with his crossfader at moments he wanted to bring out; scratching and running records back to repeat phrases and double up beats, sometimes dragging a finger alongside the wheel to give it a warble” reveals one example of the techniques Screw would use to get the desired sound he was looking for (Walker 2015). Further, techniques like these are what made DJ Screw an icon, and are seen on the first song of our Jacket, “My Mind Went Blank.” Our second song is “RIP SCREW,” a tribute to the DJ who passed away at the age of 29. His cause of death of course was a codeine overdose. Travis Scott, creator of the tribute song, is another Houston Hip-Hop artist, who has been heavily influenced by DJ Screw’s Music.

Our third through seventh songs are other Southern Hip-hop artists who were influenced by Dj Screw as well. The first song is “The Percocet & Stripper Joint” off of Future’s album Dirty Sprite Two, One of the most prolific trap albums of all time, still was heavily influenced by Screw’s psychedelic style. This beat is very syrupy, or slow and droopy, overall and talks about codeine a lot. “I just poured this lean in my cup like its Liquor”. This iconic song simply had to be on the cover. The remaining three songs from this section of this record sleeve also go out of their way to idealize lean and its consumption. Gunna in his song “Out the Hood” says “Sip more than an ounce. I never imagine what I pour, don't know the amount” Young Thug’s “Two Cups Stuffed” and Futures “Codeine Crazy” Both have a lean reference in their names. A lot of rappers pour lean in double styrofoam cups in order to keep the drink colder. So when Thugger says they are stuffed he means full of lean. While in Futures song, Codeine crazy simply means he is addicted to cough syrup.

Screw’s influence that inspired the psychedelic hip hop subgenre has branched out from solely Houston, Texas and the South to all over the United States. Take A$AP Rocky for example, who is featured on track nine of “Purple Clouds” with his song “Purple Swag.” Rocky was born and raised in Harlem, New York, but mainly grew up drawing influence from the sounds of DJ Screw and his “Chopped ‘N Slopped” style of production and incorporates this into his music. Lastly, track 10 features Cleveland native Kid Cudi and his song “Pursuit of Happiness” which has influenced a new generation of some of the sounds of rap's biggest stars today. Psychedelic hip hop has even grown outside of the United States, with track eight “Myself” by NAV, who is a rapper-producer from Toronto, Canada. A sound that once was made specifically for the South has now grown nationwide, which speaks to the effect lean culture has had on hip hop music.

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1. My Mind Went Blank - DJ Screw (1995)

This is the ninth song on the second volume of DJ Screw’s “All Screwed Up” mixtape series. Both the song title and chorus reference the affects one feels when sipping lean. Throughout the strung-out rapping, a man is slowly losing his mind to not only his opioid addiction but of the trauma that he has experienced living in the hood. The speaker begins to act out in violent ways. The song samples Aaliyah's 1994 song “At Your Best” and while the main construction of the R&B instrumental is left pretty much the same, it is all slowed down to Screw's liking. Ultimately, this is the first song on our jacket because the producer is the godfather of the sound we are studying, as well as, it has lyrics that reference lean use.

2. R.I.P Screw - Travis Scott (2018)

Travis Scott pays homage to the late DJ Screw, in the song R.I.P Screw, who was a legend in the Houston hip hop community. In the beginning of R.I.P Screw, Travis Scott sampled one of DJ Screw’s songs, Southside, that has the slowed down syrupy rhythm making it a prime example of codeine music. DJ Screw created the chopped and screwed DJing techniques that produces the syrupy codeine effect in the hip hop genre. DJ Screw has had a huge influence on the work that Travis Scott produces that is evident when interpreting the style of music. Out of respect, Travis Scott honored the Houston legend in his song R.I.P Screw, appreciating DJ Screw’s impact.  His influence on the hip hop genre has been monumental to the evolution of mainstream hip hop in the United States.

3. The Percocet & Stripper Joint - Future (2015)

Percocet & Stripper Joint plays along with the slowed down theme of codeine music. Percocet & Stripper Joint is one of Future's many hits from the DS2 album that was released in 2015. The beat of the song is relaxed and accompanied by a horn that plays the same three notes, keeping a calm rhythm to the song. The lyrics of the song back up the claim of this being related to the codeine genre of hip hop where future says, “I just poured this lean in my cup like its liquor”, and “treasure brings misery, codeine in my delivery”. Listening to this song gives off the intoxicating feeling of being on drugs.

4. Codeine Dreaming - Kodak Black & Lil Wayne (2017)

Hit song Codeine Dreaming is about Kodak Black and Lil Wayne getting high off of codeine and other illicit drugs. They reference taking codeine and using metaphors comparing it to planets and outer space. "I took too much of shrooms feel like I'm on Neptune" and "Left Future on Pluto that boy was too geeked", the use of drugs and how it makes them feel is compared to being on a different planet.  The hook of the song goes like, "And I'm codeine dreaming, and I'm codeine dreaming, And I'm codeine dreaming" that really drives home the theme being on another planet when they are high off the drugs they take.

5. 2 Cups Stuffed - Young Thug (2014)

2 Cups Stuffed fits our soundtrack perfectly for a few reasons. The song’s title is obviously a nod to having two cups of an intoxicating beverage, but it doesn’t explicitly suggest lean. Young Thug’s lyrics, however, unwind into clearly stating lean is the liquid he wants in his cups. Further, the artist sings “go light on the ice” provoking the idea that he wants more quantity of the substance that will play with his senses, and suggests that he is only drinking it to get those feelings. Although the beat and tempo of the song are a little more upbeat than others on our track list, the lyrics reengage and reinforce the themes that are prevalent throughout our record jacket.

6. Codeine Crazy - Future (2014)

Although Future is a man with many signature tracks associated with his career, “Codeine Crazy” may be at the top of the list. Conceptually, the track lyrically breaks down Future’s dependence on codeine, a major ingredient in lean, when faced with breakdowns in his life (“Take all my problems and drink out the bottle…”), (“All this motherf***ing money got me codeine crazy”), (“Drownin’ in Actavis’, suicide”). Metro Boomin, one of the most prominent and gifted producers of today’s landscape of music, provides the timelessly dark instrumental to match the tone of the lyrics, further giving the listeners a sense of Future’s sorrows that he is experiencing while taking codeine. This is such a defining moment not only because of Future’s known history as a wholehearted drug user, but because of how introspective and personal he is able to get in crafting an entire dedicated to how lean has influenced his personal life. On top of this, Metro Boomin is able to perfectly capture the dark and gloomy nature of the lyrics and how lean users feel in the midst of their darkest moments.

7. Ain't Living Right - Juice Wrld & Future (2018)

In the Album “Future & Juice WRLD Present… WRLD ON DRUGS” a young Chicago artist named Juice WRLD released a full length album with an Atlanta veteran Future, in order to idolize drug use to the highest extent. The 14th song on the album does this most effectively. In the churros, Juice says “I don’t sell drugs, I cop them” and that he has been “living life all wrong” all with a very deep and strung out voice. Emphasized by drawing out the last syllable of each line of the chorus. However, unlike most of the songs on this list the beat on this song is not as strung out or slowed down. With this being said, it was still important to have it on the list because it shows the diversity that the subgenre as a whole. That rappers from different places can rap on instrumental that don’t specifically belong to one subgenre of rap.

8. Myself - Nav (2016)

Myself is one of Nav’s most iconic songs. It perfectly blends his own gloomy and syrupy beats with his deep and robotic voice. While this does have a lot of southern influence, Nav is actually of Indian heritage and grew up in Toronto, Canada, but was inspired by Screw’s sound as a kid. In the hook of the song, Nav raps, “pour me up a four and I feel like myself again” In this line, “a four” is four ounces of promethazine, the name of the cough syrup that is used to make the drink. This hook became so popular it propelled him to being a mainstream artist and he used lean culture and music style to get there.

9. Purple Swag - A$AP Rocky (2011)

Clearly showcasing his Southern hip hop influence, a young A$AP Rocky from Harlem, New York put out the second single for his debut mixtape Live. Love. A$AP. This influence holds true on “Purple Swag” as it is an ode to those who “get high on the regular” and regularly consume “drank” (lean) with its slowed down bridge and chorus along with the instrumental throughout the track that directly takes influence from Screw’s “Chopped ‘N Slopped” sound. The “Chopped ‘N Slopped” influence of the bridge and chorus is intended to take the listener on an experience reminiscent to that of someone who has drunk lean/purple drank. Rocky also directly implies he has consumed some lean with lines such as “purple drank, I still sip,” and “everything is purple.” This track not only set the standard for the sound of Rocky’s debut and the psychedelic sound he has mastered through the majority of his career, but also made it cool for a New York rapper to incorporate Southern elements and instances of drug use into his music.

10. Pursuit of Happiness - Kid Cudi (2009)

A mainstay at any college party nationwide and arguably the most important and biggest hit of Cudi’s career, “Pursuit of Happiness” began Kid Cudi’s ascent to both superstardom and legendary status for our generation of music. At the time of its release, listeners have never heard a hip-hop track quite like “Pursuit of Happiness” before as it contains a futuristic and forwarding-sounding track that resembles more of a psychedelic feel prevalent in alternative rock rather than a hip hop track. The beauty and darkness of this track is that although the title seems associated with happiness and the song itself gives off a joyful feel, the message of the song is dreadful at times. This is the dilemma a drug user in instances of using drugs as an escape feels because a part of him wants to escape reality and go on a binge to pursue happiness, but the reality of the matter is abusing drugs can lead to terrible decisions that can cost one’s life. Although the song does not necessarily mention lean/codeine by name, “Pursuit of Happiness” encapsulates the advancement of Screw’s sound, the growth of the psychedelic hip hop subgenre, and the capability of this subgenre to touch on sensitive subject matters such as mental health, while still taking the listener on an excursion of a drug binge.

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1. Jeff Chang, “Blood and Fire, with Occasional Music: The Gangs of the Bronx,” in Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the

2. Jeff Chang, “Making a Name: How DJ Kool Herc Lost His Accent and Started Hip-Hop”

3. Eddie Glaude, “’Represent,’ Queensbridge, and the Art of Living”

4. Imani Perry, “Hip Hop’s Mama,” in Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop

5. Giles, C. (2021, May 28). Opioids like 'lean' permeate hip-hop culture, but dangers are downplayed. Kaiser Health News. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://khn.org/news/article/opioids-like-lean-permeate-hip-hop-culture-but-dangers-are-downplayed/

6. Levy, L. (2018, February 6). These are the drugs influencing pop culture now. Vulture. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://www.vulture.com/2018/02/the-drugs-influencing-pop-culture-right-now.html#lean

7. Hall, M. (2013, January 21). The slow life and fast death of DJ screw. Texas Monthly. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/slow-life-and-fast-death-of-dj-screw/

Links to the pictures

1. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dark-pink-purple-clouds-background-sky-1443329396

2. https://soundcloud.com/bijou/codeine-dreams

3. https://www.behance.net/gallery/105778549/Codeine-Dreams/modules/607085223