JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/tailwindcss/1.4.6/tailwind.min.css">
<ul class="w-full">
                    <li class="dropdown inline px-4 text-purple-500 hover:text-purple-700 cursor-pointer font-bold text-base uppercase tracking-wide relative">
                        <a>Dropdown</a>
                        <div class="dropdown-menu top-0 absolute hidden h-auto flex pt-4">
                            <ul class="block w-full bg-white shadow p-8">
                                <li class="py-1"><a class="block text-purple-500 font-bold text-base uppercase hover:text-purple-700 cursor-pointer">Item</a></li>
                                <li class="py-1"><a class="block text-purple-500 font-bold text-base uppercase hover:text-purple-700 cursor-pointer">Item 2</a></li>
                                <li class="py-1"><a class="block text-purple-500 font-bold text-base uppercase hover:text-purple-700 cursor-pointer">Item 3</a></li>
                                <li class="py-1"><a class="block text-purple-500 font-bold text-base uppercase hover:text-purple-700 cursor-pointer">Item 4</a></li>
                                <li class="py-1"><a class="block text-purple-500 font-bold text-base uppercase hover:text-purple-700 cursor-pointer">Item 5</a></li>
                            </ul>
                        </div>
                    </li>
                    <li class="inline px-4 text-purple-500 hover:text-purple-700 cursor-pointer font-bold text-base uppercase tracking-wide"><a>Non-Dropdown</a></li>
                    <li class="inline px-4 text-purple-500 hover:text-purple-700 cursor-pointer font-bold text-base uppercase tracking-wide"><a>Non-Dropdown</a></li>
                    <li class="inline px-4 text-purple-500 hover:text-purple-700 cursor-pointer font-bold text-base uppercase tracking-wide lg:pr-8"><a>Non-Dropdown</a></li>
                </ul>

CSS

.dropdown:hover .dropdown-menu {
  display: block;
}

/* 
Note: you can also do this ".dropdown" hover class with Tailwind's group-hover. Unfortunately Tailwind CDN version does not include this variant.
 */