Think Gen Z Means People Born After 2008? Here's What You're Getting Wrong

Think Gen Z Means People Born After 2008? Here's What You're Getting Wrong

Scroll through social media long enough and you'll eventually see someone say, "Gen Z can't relate to this."

Sometimes it's about an old movie. Sometimes it's a fashion trend. And sometimes, it's a song that was everywhere years ago.

Recently, a discussion around May D's old songs sparked exactly this kind of reaction, with someone suggesting that Gen Z could not relate to music from the early 2010s.

But there's a problem with that assumption:

Gen Z did not start in 2008.

So, Who Exactly is Gen Z?

There isn't a single worldwide authority that decides where one generation begins and another ends. Generational boundaries are broad cultural categories, not scientific laws, and different researchers use slightly different definitions. Pew Research Center, for example, identifies 1997 as the beginning of Generation Z, while its research has also used 1997–2012 as the Gen Z birth range.

That means someone born in 1997 is Gen Z under this widely used definition.

So are people born in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

That alone should put the "Gen Z means people born after 2008" idea to rest.

But Here's Where It Gets More Interesting

Being Gen Z doesn't mean someone must have been old enough to fully understand or consciously remember an event when it happened.

Take May D's music as an example.

His breakout singles "Soundtrack" and "Cool Temper" were released in 2011, followed by songs such as "Ile Ijo" and "Gat Me High" in 2012.

Someone born in 2003 would have been around 8 or 9 years old when those songs were making waves.

Someone born in 2005 would have been around 6 or 7.

Someone born in 2008 would have been around 3 or 4.

So can every Gen Z person claim the same level of nostalgia for those songs?

Of course not.

Generational identity doesn't automatically give everyone the same memories.

But saying "Gen Z can't relate" simply because a song came out in the early 2010s is also an oversimplification.

A young person could have heard those songs at home, in school, at parties, on the radio, from older siblings or through Nigerian pop culture generally. Others may have discovered them years later through YouTube, TikTok, playlists or conversations about old-school Nigerian music.

Being Born Later Doesn't Erase Culture

This is where social media sometimes gets generations confused.

People often use "Gen Z" as if it means "children who grew up after a particular year."

That's not how generations work.

A generation covers a range of birth years. And even people born in the same year don't necessarily have the same experiences.

Someone born in 1998 and someone born in 2010 may both be Gen Z under the same definition, but their childhoods were obviously very different.

One may remember the early days of Facebook, Nokia phones, CDs and music videos on television.

The other may have grown up with smartphones, YouTube, TikTok and streaming already deeply embedded in everyday life.

Same generation. Different childhood experiences.

And That's Why "Gen Z Can't Relate" Needs Context

If someone born in 2011 says, "I don't remember that song," that's perfectly reasonable.

But that's a statement about their personal experience, not proof that an entire generation cannot relate to it.

There's also nothing wrong with a younger person enjoying music that predates them. People don't need to have been alive when a song was released to appreciate it.

Pew Research Center itself warns that generational labels are imprecise cultural groupings and that treating them as rigid categories can encourage stereotypes and oversimplification.

So the next time you see someone say "Gen Z can't relate" to a song from the 2000s or early 2010s, don't be too quick to agree.

First ask:

Which Gen Z are we talking about?

Because a person born in 1997 and another born in 2012 may carry the same generational label, but they certainly didn't grow up listening to the same things at the same age.

And maybe that's the bigger lesson: generations are useful for describing broad cultural trends, but they should never be used to decide what someone can or cannot remember, enjoy or relate to.

So, Gen Zs, be honest: which "old" Nigerian song from the 2000s or early 2010s can you still sing word for word? 😂🎶