Gen Z is turning to the aughts for musical inspiration. Why? Because it was a good f@#*ing time. The vibes were high and the collective drama was low. Buckle up as we rehash the past in the best possible way.
In late August last year, the bad boys of Brit rock, Oasis, announced their reunion tour, sending every elder Millennial and late Gen Xers into a tailspin. Dates were sold out within hours and reports of technical issues and malfunctioning ticket sites almost evoked the same Swiftie energy that baby Alphas were enduring. What strange phenomenon is happening here? Do people really love Oasis? Better question yet: Do people actually know who Oasis are?
The answer to this is… sorta.
The resurgence of the aughts (as the young folks call it) is happening. Nostalgia is at its all-time high with the 20-year rule that essentially takes us back to 2005. What was hot back then is hot right now. In that year Green Day had just peaked with Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and here we are, two decades later, with them about to headline Coachella. And don’t get us started on the number of samples from the 2000s that have reemerged in the current-day lexicon—from Jack Harlow’s First Class making Fergie’s 2006 Glamorous relevant again to K-pop’s unlikely duo, BLACKPINK’s Rosé and Bruno Mars, whose global hit APT. is rather reminiscent of 2007’s sleeper hit That’s Not My Name by another unlikely duo, The Ting Tings. Remember them? Yeah, probably not.
Julia Fox and Sara Apple by Matt Weinberger
Music is just one of the many spokes that have been part of the aughts’ resurgence. From awkward fashion statements to flip-phone technology, the cultural zeit- geist of an era long gone is quickly making a comeback. Now, the question is why?
“I think it’s taking off because the 2000s era had a real identity, and most importantly it was fun,” states Andrew Barber, owner/creator of Fake Shore Drive, an early-aughts go-to blog site for hip-hop and culture. “Not to say young people aren’t having fun anymore, but I believe that this time period is viewed as a more authentic experience, one that is more carefree and devoid of phone attachment and social media addiction. Also, that era feels and looks larger than life. The videos had big budgets and were oftentimes outlandish and outrageous. It was the era of excess—big jewelry, big cars, big fashion. But importantly it looked like everyone was having a good time.”
Emrata by Matt Weinberger
Fun—that is a word that keeps popping up when you ask Gen Z why their post-Y2K interest has been piqued. Having graduated high school via Zoom and spent their zenith teen years locked inside, their ideas of “fun” have been usurped by mysterious viruses, N95 masks, massive protests supporting Black Lives, and climate disasters, swiftly followed by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, hurricanes in North Carolina, and most recently the apocalyptic fires of LA… “Fun” is defin- itely far from how this generation would like to categorize their upbringing.
“It was pre-social media, pre-Instagram, pre-TikTok, so people weren’t obsessed with their phones,” says one 20-year-old being interviewed the old-fashioned way: by telephone. “I think my peers are deleting Instagram and only using Snapchat to communicate with friends.” When asked what they do for fun now that they’re no longer obsessing over their iPhones, the response was, “We, like, go to the movies and hang out at coffee shops.” So early aughts!
The Dare and Charli XCX by Matt Weinberger
Another hot take for the recent attraction of the 2000s is that it’s not just been boosted by the younger generation but also by midlifers inching towards their inevitable crises who are all set to relive their glory days. And as leadership in mass-media companies has now been passed down to those in their late forties/early fifties, it’s clear who is in the driving seat to greenlight motion pictures that evoke a particular era or produce an album that sounds oddly like a band past their prime. Conspiracy theories aside, the early 2000s, especially in music, have cornered the market from past icons to tomorrow’s superstars. From electro-pop (ahem, Peaches, meet Charli xcx) to pop-punk (ahem, Avril Lavigne, meet Olivia Rodrigo, who admittedly has said that her inspiration growing up included Hole, Sleater- Kinney, and L7!) to downright baton-passing from Nicki Minaj to Megan Thee Stallion, the revival is both mainstream and underground.
As someone who is a proud Xennial, it’s evident that nostalgia is a coping mechanism during times of stress and uncertainty. There’s no question the past decade has been met with the most chaotic discourse both on a national and global level. And while the pandemic left all of us in a whirlwind, it was what took place post- pandemic that got society in a chokehold of unwanted anxiety and sudden existential panic attacks.
Peaches by Piper Ferguson
At its core, nostalgia arises from a yearning to reconnect with moments perceived as simpler, happier, or more meaningful. These recollections can offer a sense of identity and continuity, grounding individuals in their personal histories and reaffirming their sense of self. And when there are periods of drastic societal changes, the collective comfort of nostalgia is almost like a salve against the uncertainties of the present.
We are living in a time when the world is incredibly unsettling, yet one thing we all can agree on is it’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes. That’s the classic 2002 Nelly Hot in Herre reference, by the way. If anything, music from the early 2000s is just dumb fun where you can let your hair down, crush a vodka Red Bull and dance the Cupid Shuffle like there’s no tomorrow. So yes, the aughts are back because we are demanding more fun, less worry—more unbridled joy, less anxious nerves. Instead of waiting for the other shoe to drop, let’s just drop that beat!
Crowd at the Peaches concert by Piper Ferguson
Text ESTHER PARK
Photographer MATT WEINBERGER
Instagram: @mweinbergerr
Printed Images Piper Ferguson
Taken from 10 Magazine USA Issue 04 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
