It all started at a high school basketball game, when a young man with blonde hair that resembled ice cream said two words that would inspire a young generation of people. But before this young man, there was another who created “6-7” itself. A rapper made a song called “Doot Doot,” which repeatedly says “6-7” in the lyrics, possibly a reference to 67th Street in Chicago. This phrase was later used in edits of professional basketball players on social media, but it was mainly connected to one professional basketball player, Taylen Kinney, who started profiting off the trend by making 6-7 canned waters.
He was also asked once to weigh a Starbucks coffee, and he said the notorious words “6-7,” moving his hands up and down as if weighing two different objects. At first, it wasn’t fully a meme—just a catchphrase he was known for. But it turned into a meme when the most recognized face of the trend appeared in a random TikTok video. At a high school basketball game, the camera zoomed in on a blonde student’s face, and he said “6-7,” weighing his hands up and down like Taylen Kinney.
The “6-7 kid” blew up just hours later after posting that video. Many people found him annoying, due to stereotypes about boys like him—often seen as unfunny, basic, or baseball players. Before it became a meme, people made fun of him for how he looked and sounded, labeling him as a “basic white boy” in the eyes of social media. But someone made an edit of him saying “6-7.” Although it was corny, people eventually found it humorous, which helped turn it into a meme and inspire new ones.
These new memes exaggerated the videos, adding dramatic effects. For example, similar to the trending “barbershop haircut that costs a quarter” meme—in which a man says his catchphrase and the video adds flames, screams, and text saying “he opened the portal to hell”—editors started applying the same style to the 6-7 kid. They created edits of him as a giant god in space holding Earth in his hands, opening his mouth as if about to eat the planet, engulfing it in darkness. Other versions portrayed him as a cult leader, or trapped in a jail cell with his mouth wide open, forcing open the door with his fingers.
The most popular edit, however, combined the “6-7 kid” with a Kendrick Lamar meme. In that meme, Kendrick shouts “MUSTARDDDDDD” every time someone almost says mustard, with mangoes added into the video. Mangoes were another earlier meme, featuring a guy repeating “mango, mango, mango” on loop until a beat dropped, paired with “trollge” faces first made in 2008 by a college student.
Eventually, memes like “barbershop haircut,” “mango phonk,” “Kendrick Lamar mustard,” and “6-7 kid” were combined into one giant meme. One version shows the 6-7 kid holding a note saying “Kendrick is listening” while Kendrick is holding a mango. Another edit compares all four memes side by side.
All of these spawned even bigger memes still in use today. Currently, there’s another meme gaining traction that might replace the “6-7 kid”: a SpongeBob meme that has just started trending.