From Drill Reference to Brainrot: How 'six seven' took over the internet and then burned out

What began as a dark, local drill reference ended 2025 as one of the most recognisable phrases in Gen Alpha and Gen Z internet culture. 'six seven' or '6-7' saturated online spaces, crossed age groups,

and eventually collapsed under its own weight.

The phrase originates from Doot Doot, a track by Skrilla that circulated unofficially in late 2024 before its formal release in February 2025. In the song, 6-7 is not playful, nor is its meaning made explicit.

It is widely interpreted as a reference either to Philadelphia's 67th Street or to the police radio code '10-67,' used to denote a deceased person. In that form, the phrase was street-coded, violent and highly specific.

That meaning, however, did not survive its transition to TikTok.

The phrase began circulating widely after the audio was paired with NBA clips of LaMelo Ball, whose listed height is 6 feet 7. With that shift, six seven detached from its original context. The number stopped referring to anything concrete and instead became a sound — a drop or a punchline.

Once removed from its roots, the phrase evolved rapidly. A viral clip of a child shouting “six seven” while performing a sharp up-and-down hand motion turned it into something performative. Soon after, basketball player and creator Taylen 'TK' Kinney leaned into the trend, rating everything with an exaggerated, drawn-out "six… seven," transforming the phrase into a reaction rather than a statement.

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By mid-to-late 2025, 6-7 no longer required explanation. It functioned as what linguists describe as a phatic expression — a phrase that signals belonging, irony or absurdity without carrying inherent meaning.

That shift was formally acknowledged when Dictionary.com named 67 its Word of the Year, describing it as a "definition-free cultural signal."

Mainstream culture followed quickly. The phrase appeared in South Park, while 6-7 gestures were introduced as emotes in Fortnite and Overwatch 2. Google also reflected the phenomenon, with search results mirroring the phrase's lack of a fixed definition.

At that point, the meme had fully crossed over.

Memes, however, rarely disappear overnight. They erode gradually, and that process is now visible with 'six seven.'

One of the earliest signs came with brand adoption. By November 2025, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut had built promotions around the phrase, including altered pack sizes and ‘67-cent’ offers. Institutional pushback followed. Schools in the United States and the United Kingdom began banning the phrase after students shouted it compulsively in classrooms.

By the end of the year, six seven had entered what creators refer to as the 'brainrot pantheon.' It now sits alongside terms such as 'skibidi' and 'sigma,' still visible and still repeated, but stripped of edge.

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