The ‘six-seven’ meme originated in Philly (probably). We explain.
What to know about ‘six-seven’ — the kids’ favorite phrase about nothing — including how to use it in a sentence and Philadelphia’s role in its origin story.
“Is it funny?” “Am I just old?” “What does it actually mean?”
Those are common questions you’ll come across while searching for “six-seven” (or “6-7”), a phrase that has eclipsed internet obscurity and made its way into everyday speech, filling timelines, classrooms, and group chats in a way only the chronically online could understand.
The numbers, said out loud together, are really just that. It’s not code, or sexual innuendo. In reality, it’s just a lyric lifted from a song by Kensington-based rapper Skrilla.
Still confused? We’re here to break it all down.
Who is Skrilla?
The 27-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Jemille Edwards, has over 130 million streams across platforms and continues to rise in popularity.
In 2023, he signed with Priority Records — a Los Angeles-based label significant within the rap scene that worked with N.W.A and Ice Cube. Last year, his album Zombie Love Kensington Paradise earned praise in the industry.
The 19-track album, which he rereleased this year as a deluxe version with eight additional songs, underlines Edwards’ “affinity for the neighborhood while displaying his vocal flexibility and off-kilter delivery,” Pitchfork said in its mostly positive review, calling him likely “on the road to rap stardom.”
Philly rapper Tierra Whack has repeatedly shouted out Skrilla’s work while North Philly’s Lil Uzi Vert has collaborated with him.
In August, Edwards was arrested by Philadelphia Police during a music video shoot where he used a toy gun filled with gel pellets to shoot at an officer. He was charged with assaulting a police officer and related offenses.
One particular single by Skrilla has raised the rapper’s internet prominence.
Where did ‘six-seven’ come from?
Skrilla raps the lyric “six-seven” in his song “Doot Doot (6 7),” a track from the deluxe version of Zombie Love Kensington Paradise about life on the streets, fast cars, money, violence, and loss.
It’s a high-energy track that nods to Skrilla’s drill-rap style. The song’s chorus includes the lines, “6-7, I just bipped right on the highway,” and “pull up, doot-doot.”
What does ‘six-seven’ mean?
Well, it’s ambiguous. And Skrilla has said in interviews that he kind of likes it that way.
Meme lovers and unofficial lyric decoders have theories. Many think it refers to 67th Street in Philly, where Skrilla grew up (that’s what the Washington Post went with).
Owen Carry with Know Your Meme believes the Philadelphia ties are “largely speculative.”
Others think that it’s a nod to 67th Street in Chicago, where he has family. Taylor Jones, a linguistics and African American English expert, suggested it might be a nod to police radio code, where 10-67 is used to notify of a death. A contributor on Genius, a site dedicated to annotating song lyrics, theorized it was a reference to burial plots, six feet under and seven feet apart.
“Everybody else got their own different meaning,” Skrilla told Complex recently. “But for me, it’s just ‘negative to positive.’”
The most important part here is that it doesn’t really matter.
“Six-seven” has taken on a life of its own in recent months due to the pedestal it’s been placed on across TikTok and other social media platforms.
Why is ‘six-seven’ so popular?
The meme’s origins date back to late last year when Skrilla unofficially released “Doot Doot (6 7)” via Instagram as a leftover track from Zombie Love Kensington Paradise. It quickly started making the rounds on TikTok.
Content creators were using the line from the chorus in different, playful, extremely unserious ways: edits of a 6-foot-7 basketball player, lip dub memes, and scenarios that force someone to say the two numbers together. The creators are often nonsensical and copy Skrilla’s vocal pattern, a singsong “six-seven,” usually coupled with an open-palmed hand gesture.
Experts at Know Your Meme, who have been tracking the phenomenon since its inception, say videos surrounding “six-seven” have been viewed millions upon millions of times.
“The trend started with a series of bait-and-switch LaMelo Ball (of the Charlotte Hornets) edits late last year, which would intro with a random clip that included someone saying, ‘six-seven,’ and then switch to a Ball highlight reel," said Carry, associate editor at Know Your Meme. “Skrilla’s ‘6-7′ lyric was used to queue the transition (Ball is 6 feet, 7 inches, which is relevant to why he was chosen)."
In turn, Carry said, young boys especially have been saying the numbers on camera in hopes of becoming the next NBA TikTok edit star.
As these things go, the meme’s popularity has made its way into classrooms — much to the dismay of math teachers everywhere.
“Six is a perfect number, and seven is a prime number, but only a glutton for punishment would put them together in front of a bunch of 13-year-olds,” the Wall Street Journal wrote in a piece about how the meme is wreaking havoc across campuses.
It’s safe to say the phrase has officially made its way into the mainstream.
“Six-seven” was mentioned in a recent South Park episode where the kids can’t stop using the phrase, leading to an assembly about the Antichrist and satanic numerology.
Pro wrestler Je’Von Evans wore a “67″ jersey during his walk-in entrance last week, Shaq has given the trend his blessing (though he admits he doesn’t totally get it), and Skrilla claims the song will be included in the Grand Theft Auto VI soundtrack, though that hasn’t been made official yet.
Skrilla also performed the track in Philly last month when millennial icon Natasha Bedingfield, who was performing at the Theatre of Living Arts, pulled him on stage for a guest appearance. Bedingfield told Complex she’s a fan of the rapper and would like to get on a remix of “Doot Doot (6 7).”
Skrilla will be back in town at the Fillmore on Nov. 30.
What has Skrilla said about it?
In an interview this week with the Washington Post, he suggested the song referred to 67th Street in Philly, a block where a lot of his friends lived. It’s worth noting there isn’t a 67th Street in Kensington.
“We just rode by a truck that had ‘6-7’ written on it in dust, in Arizona, all the way out here,” the rapper said, speaking from a gas station on the way to Los Angeles.
The Inquirer couldn’t reach Skrilla for additional comment.
Will ‘six-seven’ still be cool by the time I start saying it?
Probably not.
With its place solidified in the mainstream — being analyzed by linguistic experts, printed on merch, and reported on by multiple newspapers (including this one), it’s safe to say the trend is likely on its way out the door.
But at least, for a fleeting moment, you can say you know what it means — which is nothing.