As the calendar transitions from April to May, social media users will be flooded with "It's gonna be May" memes starring Justin Timberlake.
The meme originates from NSYNC's 2000 hit "It's Gonna Be Me." Timberlake's pronunciation of "me" as "May" in the song has sparked this annual meme trend.
First surfacing on Tumblr in 2012, the meme featured a calendar with Timberlake on April 30 and the caption "It's gonna be May!" Since then, various iterations have circulated online.
In 2020, Timberlake joined the meme by sharing a masked version on Twitter during the pandemic. He revealed in a 2023 interview that the unique pronunciation was a producer's suggestion.
Timberlake humorously acknowledged the Swedish accent of the producers and songwriters behind the hit, crediting their unconventional English for making the song memorable.
Embracing the meme's enduring popularity, Timberlake joked about foreseeing the rise of memes and how the unique pronunciation became a defining element of the song.
Gabe Hauari, a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY, can be followed on X @GabeHauari or contacted via email at Gdhauari@gannett.com.