Justin Timberlake Called NSYNC Crazy For A Song Lyric That Wound Up Being Iconic

Key Takeaways

Justin Timberlake reveals the backstory behind NSYNC’s hit song “It’s Gonna Be Me” and how he initially thought the creative direction was “crazy” but it turned out to be iconic.
NSYNC reunited for a new project after disbanding and released the single “Better Place” for the animated film Trolls Band Together.
Justin Timberlake’s mispronunciation of “me” as “may” in “It’s Gonna Be Me” became a meme, with fans posting it every May.

Justin Timberlake revealed how NSYNC’s “It’s Gonna Be Me” hit song reached its iconic status. The ’90s and early 2000s ushered in an era of band dominance. NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Westlife, and Boys II Men, just to mention a few, took the music industry by storm.

Years after the five band members of NSYNC went on a hiatus, their 2000 smash hit “It’s Gonna Be Me” is still making rounds on the internet and music platforms. Justin Timberlake explained that during the making of NSYNC’s hit song, he was given a specific creative direction that he thought was “crazy” — but it turned out to be iconic.

Justin Timberlake Revealed He Was Not On Board With Singing “It’s Gonna Be Me”

The songwriters wanted a specific style to the song, and Justin Timberlake thought they were “crazy”

Over 20 years after disbanding the group, NSYNC came together to work on a new project by Dreamworks. They released the single, Better Place, which is featured in the animated film Trolls Band Together. This was the band’s first project after their last album in 2001, Celebrity.

For fans unfamiliar with the show, here’s a quick recap: The host, Sean Evans, invites celebrities to feast on hot wings as they reminisce and discuss various topics. While biting into their wings, the five NSYNC guys ranked their best songs and shared their best memories as a band.

In the clip, Justin Timberlake discussed why he infamously mispronounced “Me” as “May” in the hit “It’s Gonna Be Me.” Before the group disbanded, the group’s second album No Strings Attached firmly cemented the boy band as the Godzillas of the Pop2K era.

Evans dived in and asked the singers, “Fact or fiction: the hook on ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’ has that ‘May’ punctuation because Justin got a note from a producer that was ‘yeah, I need you to say it more like, ‘may,’ like a meaner ‘me’.”

Justin Timberlake, the lead vocalist on the song, answered, “I don’t remember if the specifics were ‘a meaner me,’ but I sang, ‘It’s gonna be me,’ and he was like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. It’s may. May!’”

JC Chasez, who also had a leading vocal role in NSYNC chimed into the conversation and said, “You also remember their Swedish accents.” Chasez continued while imitating with a Swedish accent, “They had done a demo of it, and they were like, ‘It’s like this!’”

Justin Timberlake, agreeing with Chasez’s comments, continued, “You know what’s funny, specifically to Max Martin, the parts of their English that were broken actually made them catchier songwriters because they would put words in a way that almost didn’t make sense, but when you sang them, they were more memorable.”

The “Cry Me A River” artist reiterated, “And yes, it was a specific note that I got, and I was just like, ‘this guy’s crazy.’”Chris jumped in with a joke, “And this is gonna be so meme-worthy.” Justin then concluded that he followed the songwriter’s instructions and that peculiar aspect made “It’s Gonna Be Me” the hit it is today.

Justin Timberlake Was Often The ‘Face’ Of NSYNC

NSYNC was originally formed by Chris Kirkpatrick, but Justin took the lead

Contrary to belief, neither Justin nor Chasez founded the boy band NSYNC. Chris Kirkpatrick was the founder of the group. When the quintet began singing, The Backstreet Boys were the reigning kings in the states. It wasn’t until the band’s U.S. debut with “I Want You Back” that the group began rising the ranks.

NSYNC’s success would soon follow after the release of their second and third albums, “No Strings Attached” and “Celebrity,” which sold millions of copies. Fans didn’t anticipate the band’s sudden split just as they were destined for bigger things.

Justin Timberlake became interested in recording a solo album. He said that he began to outgrow the idea of working within a group and needed to work on himself as a solo artist.

After Timberlake’s departure from the band, Lance Bass and Joey Fatone expressed disdain. Initially, they thought the hiatus was temporary as everyone needed a break following the tedious tours.

Lance admitted that Justin Timberlake was the reason the band never got back together. The band was never going to get together until recently, when they appeared on First We Feast and the MTV Music Video Awards, teasing about a reunion.

Nonetheless, the members have gotten together on some occasions, such as Lance’s wedding, the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, and the Ellen DeGeneres show. Regardless of why the band broke up, it’s evident the guys are still on good terms.

Justin Timberlake Became A Meme For “It’s Gonna Be May”

Memes, t-shirts, and more sprang from the iconic “may” line

The “Mirrors” artist rose to prominence during his tenure with NSYNC. Years later, after memes began flooding the internet, Justin’s “It’s Gonna Be May” joined the party.

Pop culture fans have made it a habit to post the meme when ushering in May every year. Justin Timberlake wasn’t left behind as he posted the ‘May’ meme on his X account with the caption, “Spring Summer 2020. Thanks for this, Internet.”

The meme showed Justin wearing a mask shortly after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, and many people were indoors with nothing to do but surf the internet. Also in 2020, Joey Fatone donned an “It’s Gonna Be May” t-shirt on Instagram. Clearly, the guys are still enjoying the notoriety from the song.

Fast-forward, NSYNC fans were shocked, Taylor Swift included, to see the entire band at the VMAs in 2023.