Students and adults alike may have heard this joke with peers, kids, and students at least 41 times. The “67” joke has taken over the world by storm, “brainrotting” the minds of mainly Gen Z and Alpha youth.
“67” originates from a song released from an album titled ‘Zombie Love Kingston Paradise’ in December of 2024 by the artist Skrilla. The song titled ‘Doot Doot’ popularized the term as the song depicts the harsh reality of street life in Philadelphia. The line “Bro put belt right to they behind The way that switch brrt, I know he dyin’ (Oh my, oh my God) six seven, I just bipped right on the highway.” A popular music interview channel on Youtube named Genius brought the term to light, as it appears to reference the Philadelphia and police code 10-67 which is used to communicate a killing. This relates to the overall theme of the song.
Despite the song’s meaning, in January 2025, the specific line previously mentioned was used in edits of favorite basketball players, specifically LaMelo Ball in reference to his stature of 6 feet and 7 inches. This adaption of the line brought it into mainstream media, allowing for the term to be picked up by the younger audiences of the basketball sport and thus outward.
As time went on, the joke expanded further into the youth’s lexicon as the full line was shortened to emphasize the “67” ending by saying it in a funny way; mimicking the punchline of previous funny numbers of “21”, “69”, or “420.” Jeffery Progin, a student of Hillsborough High School and frequent user of the joke, comments, “I’m not really sure what it means, I just know it came from a song and whenever you see the numbers 6 and 7 everybody would just repeat it and say it over and over again.” He continues, “I just think it’s funny because it’s stupid the way it became popular.” He finishes by depicting how now it’s so common that every time he hears the set up to the joke, “I just have to finish it.”
Andrew Bourey, another student of Hillsborough High School and “The 67 Maestro” gave further insight on the joke and how it’s expanded in such a short time. “I can randomly throw it in there, like if someone asks for the time I can say 67. It’s funny because it sucks. It’s funny because it’s not good, it’s kind of a random thing. It’s like a bad movie, it’s so good because it’s bad,” Bourey said.
Many companies have even joined the widespread joke. Google, the most used search engine in the world, has even participated in the joke.When a user searches “67”, the screen will shake, mimicking the “67” hand motions. Currently, the joke is starting to lose some relevance, solidifying it as just another trend of 2025.
