Has the Justin Timberlake 'It's Gonna Be May' meme passed its expiration date? May-be

AP AND CHRISTI CARRAS

LOS ANGELES TIMES

May 2, 2023

Per usual, scores of social media users couldn't wait to tweet "It's Gonna Be May" on Sunday, April 30. But others are ready to say "Bye Bye Bye" to the enduring 'N Sync meme.

In recent years, it's become an internet tradition to ring in the final month of spring by tweeting "It's Gonna Be May" and sharing clips of Justin Timberlake singing "It's gonna be me" during his boy band days — except the "me" sounds a whole lot like "may," hence the meme.

Even the official 'N Sync YouTube channel has altered the description of the music video for "It's Gonna Be Me" to read "*NSYNC — It's Gonna Be Me (It's Gonna Be May — Official Video)" — no doubt in an effort to pick up some of that annual "It's Gonna Be May" search traffic. And members of the band, including Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone, have shared videos on social media participating in the viral trend.

"Happy It's Gonna Be May to those who celebrate," one person tweeted along with a clip from the original 'N Sync music video.

"When the 00's was your era and it's gonna be May…" another person tweeted along with a video of himself re-creating the 'N Sync choreography.

One Twitter user shared a TikTok video of a wall of Big Mouth Billy Bass toys (a nod to Lance, I guess?) lip-syncing to the catchy tune, while Washington, D.C., morning news anchor Allison Seymour uploaded a clip of herself and her colleagues busting a move to the song in the studio.

"Uh oh…looks like it's May 1st Hit it #JustinTimberlake," Seymour tweeted. "See you at 4:25am-7 am."

Others, however, were suffering from some serious "It's Gonna Be May" fatigue and suggested the meme has passed its internet expiration date.

"It's 2023," one such hater tweeted. "Anyone who still says 'it's gonna be May' or 'May the fourth be with you' goes directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200."

"I am reporting every 'It's gonna be May' tweet I see today," another person wrote.

"i'm gonna need all of u boomers to put that tired 'it's gonna be may' justin timberlake meme on ice this year PLS," someone else tweeted.

Several were either disappointed or pleasantly surprised to report a dearth of "It's Gonna Be May" content on their social media time lines this year.

"I did not see a single 'it's gonna be May' tweet this year," one person wrote. "Y'all slipping or that was Elon [Musk] messing with the algorithm?"

"I have not seen any 'it's gonna be May' memes today and I am disappointed in all of you," another person echoed.

"wow I didn't see one 'it's gonna be May' *NSYNC meme yesterday," another person tweeted, "we are truly evolving as a culture."

See more "It's Gonna Be May"-related tweets below.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.