Songfacts®:

• Yes, this is where the "6-7" meme - that thing kids do when they move their hands up and down while saying "six-seven" to entertain themselves and confuse adults - came from.
  
  It's a drill rap song by Philadelphia rapper Skrilla (born Jemille Edwards). And while most of those kids doing "6-7" don't listen to drill and probably haven't heard the song, that global internet meme transformed Skrilla from a regional artist into a breakout star.
  
  This wasn't the first time a rap song started a trend; back in 1997 we were all raising the roof thanks to the song by Luke (Luther Campbell).
• Skrilla wrote the song himself, and it was produced by Ellis Uhl under the name 1Ellis. Sonically, it's Philadelphia drill distilled to its essentials: dark, oppressive bass, looping menace, and a hypnotic chant that refuses to resolve into anything sensible.
• In late 2023, Skrilla and his crew were driving a Mercedes S580 on a rainy Los Angeles highway when they crashed. Rather than dwelling on the wreck, they left the car, got an Uber, and headed straight to producer Southside's studio mansion in LA.
  
  Once there, Skrilla remembered a beat he'd seen 1Ellis post on Instagram a few days earlier. He hadn't been sent the instrumental, but that didn't stop him. He contacted Ellis from the studio, got the beat, and recorded "Doot Doot (6 7)" in roughly an hour, mostly alone, while everyone else went out for food. When they returned, Skrilla played it. Nobody thought it was a hit except Skrilla.
  
  Then he did nothing with it.
  
  The track sat unreleased for over a year, living only in Skrilla's car stereo as one of his five favorite unreleased songs. He had no plans for a video and no sense it would ever matter. Eventually, he leaked a snippet on Instagram to test the waters. The response went, in his words, "crazy." That was enough.
• I know he dyin'
  6-7, I just bipped right on the highway
  
  The chant "6-7" became a meme, a verbal tic, and eventually a kind of cultural wink. Its meaning is deliberately unclear, which Skrilla insists is the point. "It just represents my brain, like what comes up in my head," he explained to Genius.
  
  Naturally, the internet manufactured its own explanation. Theories ranged from a reference to 67th Street in Chicago or Philadelphia, to a specific Philly neighborhood Skrilla acknowledged as "a spot," to linguistic speculation that it echoes "10-67," a police radio code for death. Skrilla has politely allowed all of these interpretations to coexist, noting in an XXL magazine interview that ambiguity works perfectly in meme culture, where repetition matters more than meaning.
• Adding to the chaos, the song unexpectedly interpolates the children's song "Baby Shark":
  
  Dump truck, baby shark, doo-doo-doo-doo
  
  The nursery-rhyme cadence crashes directly into violent drill imagery, producing the kind of tonal whiplash that makes the internet sit up straight and say, "Wait - what?"
• The music video was shot over time in Philadelphia. Some of the footage was captured during a Philadelphia Eagles playoff celebration, which helped cement the song's role as a sports-highlight anthem. Skrilla wanted to film on the field but couldn't get access during the playoffs, so he shot from the stands, around the stadium, and in the streets instead. By then, "6-7" was already spreading through TikTok as the soundtrack to football, basketball, baseball, anything with slow-motion impact.
• One video in particular crystallized the meme. On December 1, 2024, TikToker Matvii Grinblat posted commentary on NBA player LaMelo Ball, noting his 6'7" height as the chant kicked in over highlight clips. The video racked up 9.6 million views in two months and established the basic format: say the numbers, cue the song, let the clip do the rest.
  
  The meme reached escape velocity when Taylen "TK" Kinney, a star player for Overtime Elite and future University of Kansas recruit, began casually saying "six-seven" in interviews and social posts. After rating a Starbucks drink with the phrase, he went viral, earned the nickname "Mr. 67," and even launched a canned water brand called 67 Water. Skrilla later acknowledged Kinney's role: "TK started that though... he the one that started this right."
• The phrase "67" spilled into real life. Teachers reported students chanting it in class, and some schools banned it outright. Sports arenas blasted it over highlight reels. Even Carrie Underwood referenced it on American Idol, jokingly offering "5-3-0-9" from Tommy Tutone's "Jenny (867-5309)" as an antidote.
• On October 28, 2025, Dictionary.com crowned "67" its Word of the Year, noting that interest in the phrase had increased more than sixfold since June. Steve Johnson, Director of Lexicography at Dictionary Media Group, summed it up neatly: "It's part inside joke, part social signal, and part performance. When people say it, they're not just repeating a meme; they're expressing an emotion."
• The song's commercial performance led to it being added as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of Skrilla's album Zombie Love Kensington Paradise, released on February 28, 2025.