William Wooten, a 2003 graduate of Arts & Sciences, spent this past summer co-creating Pimp Juice. The Washington University alumnus worked with Team Lunatics, a company belonging to St. Louis rapper Nelly, to produce this green apple-flavored energy drink.
Wooton, with the help of Demetrius Denim, took the title of Nelly’s hit song, “Pimp Juice,” and transformed the idea into an actual beverage. By way of the Pimp Juice vehicle, word of mouth, and many cans, Pimp Juice has arrived on campus.
Current students also played a part in creating the beverage. Sophomores Paul Lee and Josh Feldman, senior Matt Bernstein, and junior Darius Bates interned at Team Lunatics this summer and witnessed first-hand the birth of this beverage.
Lee said the drink was made to compete with energy drinks like Red Bull. He pointed out that other musicians have similar products, like Russell Simons, the president of Def Jam Records, who has Def Con 3.
“The name Pimp Juice just sells itself,” said Lee.
While Team Lunatics has yet to put Pimp Juice on the national market, many Washington University students got their first taste of Pimp Juice at Sigma Alpha Mu, at Sammy’s Pimp Juice party on September 19. Lee, a member of the fraternity, provided the Pimp Juice.
“I think it’s tasty,” said freshman Louisa Diliberti. “It was better than Red Bull, a lot less gummy and [with] more citrus flavor. It reminded me of green Kool-Aid.”
Freshman Nikolas Hornback said he was not impressed.
“It’s the exact same as every other energy drink,” said Hornback. “There’s nothing special about it besides whose it is. It tastes like Mountain Dew or Mello Yello with only a little bit of zing.”
Students have also become acquainted with Pimp Juice through its flamboyantly decorated car. Lee, along with the company AdGraphics, helped design the car, which sports the Pimp Juice logo. The reason so many students see it around campus, Lee explains, is that many interns, along with Wooton, get access to the car at certain times.
“It has Pimp Juice, Nelly, and bright colors,” said freshman Josh Lawrence, “I wish I could drive a car like that!”
Not everyone, however, is hyped about the new drink. Groups such as the National Black Anti-Defamation League, Project Islamic Hope, and the National Alliance for Positive Action all are opposed to Pimp Juice for its name. They argue that it continues negative stereotypes of African-American males. The groups have gone so far as to start a nationwide boycott of the beverage, working with various grocers across the country.
Lee said that Team Lunatics anticipated these sorts of protests, but feels that the name of the drink is perfectly acceptable.
“If you look at pop culture today and in recent years, the word pimp is used freely but doesn’t mean a man who sells prostitutes,” Lee said. “It means the man, or the life of the party. In a bar, a party, or even a convenience store-you’re not soliciting women, you’re being the man.”
While Nelly’s Pimp Juice may be anything that helps get your mack on, the canned version is 140 calories of green apple-flavored energy drink. It contains 10% apple juice, 100% of the daily recommended amount of five vitamins and 100% St. Lunatic. Pimp Juice gets its kick from two natural substances, gaurana and taurine. Gaurana produces effects similar to caffeine, while taurine, an amino acid, is said to help optimize mental and physical performance.
According to Nelly, Pimp Juice is just that special something.
“Pimp Juice is anything that attracts the opposite sex,” Nelly told America on MTV’s TRL. “Whatever you [are] using to win with right now, that’s your juice. That’s your pimp juice, so keep pimping.”
Team Lunatic plans to let loose Pimp Juice in grocery and convenience stores by the end of the year.