The phrase “6–7” has been echoing throughout K–12 schools, prompting students across California and the nation to erupt with laughter and excitement whenever it’s called out.

The classroom-disrupting chant has left parents and teachers scratching their heads, trying to uncover the mystery behind the two numbers.

In some schools, the phrase has been banned altogether. In others, teachers have tried to work out ways to let the students get it out of their system.

“I think the culture of our school is we roll with the punches because you can’t fight this,” Carlos Ochoa, principal of Giano Intermediate in Southern California, told the Los Angeles Times.

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But where does it come from?

Before it became a viral TikTok sensation, “6-7” was a phrase called out in 2024 a rap song called “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla. Although the song isn’t new, it began gaining traction online in recent months but it remains unclear which video catapulted it to its frenzied status.

Some say the video that did it was posted by basketball influencer Cam Wilder back in March. The YouTube video, with 1.3 million views, shows two teenagers energetically yelling “6-7” at an Amateur Athletic Union basketball game while making a juggling motion.

LaMelo Ball, a Charlotte Hornets player, has also posted videos lip-dubbing Skrilla’s “Doot Doot (6 7).” The athlete stands 6 feet 7 inches tall.

At first, the phrase was mainly used by athletes posting highlight videos. Now, the craze has spilled into just about every setting — even an In-N-Out, where a crowd of teens erupted in cheers when order 67 was finally called. The worker behind the counter played along, deliberately announcing “six-seven” after the previous order, “sixty-eight.”

So, what is the meaning behind the phrase?

According to Skrilla himself, absolutely nothing.

“I never put an actual meaning on it, and I still would not want to,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

The rapper says the absence of meaning is “why everybody keeps saying it.”

The song wasn’t originally meant for release, but the Philadelphia artist leaked it at the end of 2024.

“6 7!!!! Keep it goin’, keep it positive, and remember where that energy come from,” the rapper told the Times in an email.

And they have.

In the months that it has gained fervent traction among teens, the numbered callout has been referenced in Emmy-winning series “Abbot Elementary” and in South Park’s first episode of season 28.

While trends, particularly viral ones, normally have a short shelf life, this particular one has hung on, bedeviling educators everywhere. And that’s exactly why it has stuck, according to Karen North, a digital social media and psychology professor at USC.

“Because there’s nothing that middle schoolers or elementary schoolers like more than to have teachers get upset and try to take action against something, especially if the something is impossible to ban,” she told the Times.

In some cases, teachers have attempted to use 6-7 to their advantage.

One teacher posted a video of herself using the callout to quiet her classroom down. When she says the word “six,” her classroom responds “seven.”

Other teachers have posted videos pranking their classrooms, giving students math tests in which every answer is “67.”