Millennial Planning for 20th High School Reunion, Uncovers Viral 2005 Relic

A candid lip-synch video captured during a student’s last week of high school in 2005 has become a viral sensation on TikTok, after the now-38-year-old parent rediscovered the lighthearted footage and decided to share it online.

The footage, shot by then-18-year-old Kyle Philippi (@kylephilippi), involves a range of senior-year students and teachers each lip-synching and dancing along to “Let’s Get It Started” by The Black Eyed Peas, which had been released two years earlier in 2003.

The 2000s backdrop, clothing and gadgets paired with the animated dance moves and gestures has left viewers online in hysterics. To date, the post has been viewed more than 617,000 times.

“During my last week of senior year in 2005, I ran around the school, getting everyone to lip-synch to this song,” Philippi, who is based in Tennessee, told Newsweek. “It was pretty unusual for a student to have a video camera back then, but everyone was happy to play along!”

The video, which featured the overlaid text “enjoy this millennial core,” has sparked a wave of nostalgia among viewers, many of whom are younger that Philippi, as Gen Z continues to romanticize aspects of the 90s and 2000s.

“Remember when people used to be fun?” one viewer commented, while another added: “Can we bring back not being called cringe just for having fun.”

“The most millennial part of this is people not being too cool for fun,” a third viewer posted.

“Remember when we had light in our eyes?” one added, while a different viewer commented: “Genuinely the last time life was good.”

“This is real millennial core,” one said.

“The world just isn’t like this anymore,” another added.

Philippi reflected on the joy the short clip has brought to viewers across the world, two decades after it was filmed at his high school.

“It is fun to see this video have a second life,” Philippi said. “When I made it during my senior year, everyone geeked out over it—we even sold DVDs of it, and it was featured on the local news.

“Then it sat buried for 20 years!” he added.

As his 20-year high school reunion approached, Philippi, who now has two children, decided to post it on social media for the first time.

“Back in 2005, there was no way to share a video like that online, so it only circulated on DVDs,” he said. “To see it get this kind of reaction 20 years later is really exciting.

“I think there is something really special that millennials share in our upbringing, because our memories were not shared on the internet until college, with Facebook,
Instagram, and YouTube all emerging in our adulthood.”

Philippi’s love for cameras and filming as a teenager has paid off. He now enjoys a successful career as a content creator and nonprofit director.

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