What does the bizarre rise and co-optation of 6-7, a viral meme that has become so detached from it's original meaning, tell us about the current state of hip hop, culture, and racism in Amerikkka? Read Andre Gee's latest essay investigating the matter here: andrejgee.substack.com/p/6-7-is-another-two-americas-moment?r=nkj5&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

The phrase comes from Philly rapper Skrilla’s “Dood Doot (6 7)” track. His bars: “The way that switch brrt, I know he dyin’ / 6-7, I just bipped right on the highway"

Andre's friend revealed that Skrilla hadn’t even originated “6 7,” attributing it to Philly rapper YSN UTH. He dropped a song called “6 7” this year, and seemingly first used the term in 2022. Listening to UTH’s music quickly demystified the term’s function. Every time he mentioned “6 7” was around bars depicting things that eight-year-old Nathan from Iowa probably shouldn’t be thinking about.

In an interview with media outlet Enterprize Philly, YSN UTH notes that it comes from 67th street in Philadelphia. In an April interview with media personality Khadejia, UTH shouted out the “6700” block but was coy about what “6 7” meant to him, calling it “deeper than rap,” adding, “we got real blood in with this s***.’ In both videos, he showed a crimson “6 7” tat on his wrist.

Skrilla, who is from the Kensington part of Philly, has told POW Mag that him saying “6 7” is a shoutout to “where all my youngbulls from,” specifically naming rapper Doodie Baby. I wasn’t able to find any tweets or footage of either Skrilla or UTH explicitly mentioning the other, but the latter is adamant that he be recognized as the originator.

The rise of “6 7” is a consequence of our nonsensical, nonsequitur brainrot culture, next to grilled chicken memes and pictures of professional athletes with Druski’s head photoshopped on them. We’ve doomscrolled to the depths of what journalist Ivie Ani calls “late stage social media.” Now, memes no longer have to make sense, but just might have legs if they make enough people chuckle

The ad-lib has been repeatedly uttered alongside bars about gun violence, from a Philly drill rapper repping 67th street, but it’s been sanitized beyond any inkling of that context. The moment harkens to “Notti Bop,” a viral hit that had kids all over the country doing a chest beating dance, unaware that it originated to mock the death of Notti Osama, who was fatally stabbed in 2022.

"Doot Doot (6 7)” has helped drive momentum for Skrilla’s music career, but it’s unclear how long it will last, and how much money he can tangibly trace to its virality. So even if “6 7” went viral from a YSN UTH song, it’s questionable if he’d have been able to wrangle the hype and monetize it. That would put him in the position of Kayla Newman, the Chicago woman who coined “on fleek” in high school but then sought the public’s support in receiving recompense after brands like IHOP, Taco Bell, and Forever 21 used the term without crediting her... even when it comes to who gets to capitalize on social media virality, race and class elements are at play.

The trauma, grief, and turmoil of the gun violence that songs like “Doot Doot” and “Home Invasion” depict are too often stripped away by people detached from, and desensitized to, Black death. The trouble in “6 7’s” signal crossing isn’t with the suburban middle schoolers who made it a trend. But it is on their elders, complicit in an environment where only violence toward certain communities is taken seriously.

• 0:49, first instance of "6-7" in a song from 2022

• 2025 song from Skrilla that is most known for popularizing the phrase, often featured in edits of LaMelo Ball

F.D. Signifier ahh take

he’s not wrong

“6 7” comes from drill rappers shouting out their street because they gunned down their opps

but suburbanites loving the quote should be no surprise since “slatt” has been common slang for a decade

“smoking on Tooka pack” another example

it’s dystopian

f*** ONE TIME!

"We’ve doomscrolled to the depths of what journalist Ivie Ani calls “late stage social media.” Now, memes no longer have to make sense, but just might have legs if they make enough people chuckle"

We ion play that meme s*** or that social media s***

Its probably sum deep state dark magic s***

I’m pretty sure I heard 67 before the skrilla song, he just seen the opportunity to tie it into a popular song pretty quickly, I could be wrong tho

ya’ll…the meme came from a hooper

Skrilla just hopped on the oppurtunity and everyone went with the easier explanation. Jesus Christ, who knew the 6 7 meme would be when niggas reveal they washed explaining it lol

lil kids ain’t thinking about Skrilla, they thinking about

yall cannot be serious right now

i understand that a lot of popular american culture is the theft and appropriation of black culture in a way that totally trivializes and dissonantly detaches its original context (esp slang e.g. crashout)

but is it rly that serious in this case. this was already a pretty hard-to-get reference and the meme came from someone quoting the song

You gonna realize, it's always that deep. No Diddy

Is this like when rappers and other people thought Tooka was a weed strain

bro said suburbanites

i feel like comparing "67" to "notti bop" or "smoking tooka" is a bit strong when one is a shoutout to their block vs actually making light of a real person's death but i don't think the premise is wrong

idk about the background but 67 genuinely makes me feel like we’re headed to idiocracy lol

no

6 7 these nutz

Tbh first Gen Z meme that is actually endearing

Never used it

Not true Rigby cat six and Seven

I’m mad I even typed all that

I just know my youngins don’t know who tf Skrilla is and that meme is automatic any time they hear or see a 6 7

The Slipknot trapper?