Attending a Gen Z rappers' Concert
On Saturday night, I went to a Nanku concert, a Gen Z rapper. I was probably the oldest woman in the room. Around me were 14 to 20 year olds, singing along to lyrics I was sometimes trying very hard to understand, dancing to music I was still making sense of. The clothes, the energy, the slang, the sheer confidence with which they occupied the space… there was a lot to take in.
At several points, I could have easily slipped into the familiar adult response: "What is this generation doing?"
Instead, I tried to simply be there. Not to feel younger. Not to prove I am "with it."
I was there to learn.
Staying relevant isn't about knowing every new song or trying to dress like a 16-year-old. It's about making the effort to understand the world our young people are living in their lingo, the shows they watch, who they follow,what makes them laugh, what they find aspirational without immediately judging it through the lens of our own growing-up years.
Because honestly, nobody did that for us either. Our parents had their own version of "What is wrong with kids these days?" And yet, somehow, we grew up.
But today's young people are growing up in a world changing at astonishing speed.
Their influences aren't just home, school and neighbourhood anymore — their world is global, digital, immediate. A 16-year-old today may know more about a culture on the other side of the world than the one their parents grew up in. Just when you think you've figured out what "cool" means, the definition has changed. And that's okay.
Relevance is about keeping the door open. Sitting across from a 17-year-old and understanding enough of their world to have a meaningful conversation. Watching a show you don't personally enjoy because it's what everyone their age is talking about.
It is, above all, curiosity without contempt.
We don't have to agree with everything young people do, or like every song, or approve of every aspiration. But perhaps we should understand before we judge. Because you cannot guide a generation you don't understand and you cannot build trust with young people if you constantly make them feel their world is ridiculous or inferior to the one we grew up in.
As educators, this matters even more.
Our job isn't to become teenagers
It's to meet them where they are, and help them grow from there. And to do that, we have to be willing to enter their world every once in a while even when it makes us feel slightly out of place.
So yes, every once in a while, you might find me at a concert where I am clearly not the target demographic. I may raise an eyebrow at an outfit. I may wonder what everyone is screaming about. But I will still watch. I will still listen. I will still ask questions.
Because I don't want to be the adult standing outside the room saying, "Kids these days…"
Not because I want to be young again.
But because I want to remain relevant enough to understand the young. Not staying young.
Staying curious enough to keep learning. That is the only way to build trust with them.
For that, I am deeply grateful.
