Social media users were shocked to learn how much Gen Z loves Keyshia Cole‘s 2005 song “Love” after footage of kids singing along at several school dances went viral.
The first video was first shared on the TikTok account @thebrothareeseshow over the weekend. It showed kids at Herman Middle School in San Jose, California, belting along to the hit song as they held up their lit cellphones. The video was captioned, “The young adults at Herman Middle School went crazy for #love by @keyshiacole. Go on y’all! Sing it!”
The video was also shared on X, formerly Twitter, on Oct. 30 with the caption, “These babies are singing their hearts out.” The video has been viewed more than 8 million times so far.
Another video was shared of high school kids enthusiastically singing Cole’s hit during a homecoming dance on Oct. 29. The clip was shared by DJ Crystal Sparks on X with the caption, “Did a HS homecoming & I didn’t realize how much the kids really LOVE Keyshia Cole.”
Millennial users on X were shocked to see how well young people knew a song that was a hit before they were even born.
One fan wrote, “That is a random song for a bunch of non-black middle schoolers to know word for word.”
“Is there any other way to sing this song, though?!?! You sing this classic at the top of your lungs,” replied another.
Other social media users could not wrap their minds around what the younger generation could possibly know about love and heartbreak.
“Who hurt y’all!?!? lol they were feeling that,” said one TikTok user, while a commenter on X replied, “We’ve led them astray. You’re not supposed to hurt like that until your 20s or 30s!”
It turns out the kids may have been introduced to the hit song via a number of online parodies featuring their favorite cartoon characters. In August, a user by the name of darthwargod shared a parody video of Goku from the anime “Dragon Ball Z” singing Keyshia Cole’s “Love” on TikTok. The original video, which was created using AI, has since amassed over 126k views.
@darthwargod Love Keyshia Cole #goku #vegeta #epicpartner #fortnite #fortniteclips #darthwargod #naruto #anime #animeedits #animeedit #animetiktok #narutoshippuden #dragonball #dragonballz #myheroacademia #animememe @Zappy @Leo @Tyson Latchford @Code BRAXY ♬ original sound – Tre2Groovyy
AI was also used to create several videos of Spongebob covering the hit song as well.
Keyshia Cole’s ballad about an intense love that ended in heartbreak was released in 2005 on her album “The Way It Is” and spent 19 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. The music video features singer/actor Tyrese Gibson as Cole’s love interest.
