I don't think 4th gen started in 2018 so now what. But then it at least made sense because groups like GIDLE & IZ*ONE did decently on the charts even though 3rd gen was very much in it's peak. None of these "5th gen" groups are making any splash in Korea making it even more obvious that it's just a marketing/copium tactic
I also don't know why people are pushing the 5th gen thing with Baemon when YG's mediaplay has compared them to NewJeans and the like, but whatever
I don't think they compare them with them I don't think YG has mediaplayed them enough tbh but they did acknowledged them as 5th gen not too long ago. The whole 5th gen has started in May I think with Mnet kind of like happened with 4th gen. I personally don't see much difference if I'm honest
to be fair 5th gen only started a few months back we should wait a little lol but other than izone and G idle no other group that debuted in 2018 did really good or outstanding in comparison to groups that debuted in 2019 or 2020