It’s April 30th which means one thing – the Justin Timberlake ‘It’s Gonna Be May’ meme is back again! Here’s where it all started.
As you’ve been scrolling through social media today, you’ve probably come across a lot of photos of Justin Timberlake.
If you’re not familiar with the viral ‘It’s Gonna Be May’ meme, you might be a little confused.
Here’s why Justin Timberlake is taking over social media on April 30th…
What is the Justin Timberlake April 30th Meme?
Every year on April 30th, Justin Timberlake memes start flooding social media.
They usually consist of photos and GIFs of the American singer with the caption: “It’s Gonna Be May.”
It originates from the 2000 song It’s Gonna Be Me which Justin Timberlake sang with his former band NSYNC.
In the song, Justin sings the lyric “it’s gonna be me” but his strange accent makes it sound like he’s saying “it’s gonna be May”.
Back in 2012, internet users started sharing the meme on the last day of April to joke that it’s “gonna be May” tomorrow, and the meme seems to have stuck.
Now, photos of Justin Timberlake from his NSYNC days take over social media every April 30th, and it’s become an internet tradition.
Justin is a fan of the meme
Justin doesn’t seem to mind the meme at all.
On May 1st 2020, he shared a parodied Covid-19 version of the meme on Twitter where he was wearing a photoshopped face mask. In the caption, he wrote: “Spring Summer 2020. Thanks for this, Internet.”
In a 2016 interview with Capital FM he explained why it sounds like he says the word “May”, blaming the producer who he claims “wanted [him] to sound like [he] was from Tennessee”.
Justin’s NSYNC band member Chris Kirkpatrick told Variety:
“I remember when we were recording the song, Max Martin kept telling Justin to sing it more ‘may’ instead of ‘me,’ and then it just became May. When it was over, I remember even Justin saying, ‘Man, that sounds ‘May’ more than ‘me,’ but it didn’t really catch on until someone made that meme.”
The song has two titles on Spotify
The meme has become so widespread that It’s Gonna Be Me actually now has two titles on Spotify.
If you search the song on the music streaming service, you’ll find that the first title says It’s Gonna Be Me, but underneath that, it actually says It’s Gonna Be May.
We may as well change the song title officially at this point!
The song has two titles on Spotify
The meme has become so widespread that It’s Gonna Be Me actually now has two titles on Spotify.
If you search the song on the music streaming service, you’ll find that the first title says It’s Gonna Be Me, but underneath that, it actually says It’s Gonna Be May.
We may as well change the song title officially at this point!