Justin Timberlake pays tribute to creator of ‘It’s Gonna Me May’ viral meme: ‘Look what you started’

Nine years in and the ‘It’s Gonna Be May’ meme seems to be more popular than ever.

So much so that Justin Timberlake actually took to social media to credit the woman who came up with the idea to celebrate the first of May by poking fun at the way he pronounces ‘me’ in NSYNC’s 2000 hit, It’s Gonna Be Me.

Throughout the song, the former NSYNC singer pronounces the word ‘me’ like ‘may.’

Getting a jump on the now annual May 1 tradition, Timberlake first shared a clip from the song on April 30, where he sings the title line, ‘It’s gonna be…’ but had the word ‘me’ edited out. 

And then, the following day, he reposted the Twitter thread started by meme creator @astro_kianna [Kianna Davis].

‘Now that it’s ACTUALLY May, I have to give props where they are due. Look what you started @astro_kianna,’ he shared on both Twitter and Instagram.

Obviously feeling honored, Davis shared Timberlake’s Instagram post, but added an apology to the singer for all the attention the meme has gotten on every May 1 since 2012.

‘Can’t believe this. I’ll never forget it (but dude I’m so sorry that you have to see this every year) Love you always,’ she wrote along with a red heart emoji.

Davis kicked off the now annual tradition by paying homage to the five members of NSYNC in the caption of a photo of herself. 

‘Happy @nsync Day and #ItsGonnaBeMay Day!’ Davis wrote.

‘I never thought one Tumblr post would turn into ALL of this, but I love that we can come together each year to celebrate the best boy band on Earth. So thankful for all of the sweet messages and posts today, and I hope @justintimberlake @lancebass @iamckirkpatrick @realjoeyfatone @jcchasezofficial know how much we love them.’

Later in the day, as comments began to mount up, Davis posted a message to all the Instagram fans and followers, writing, ‘As y’all con imagine – my notifications and inbox are swamped. Trying to get back to everyone but it may take a while.’

She added, ‘Thank you for all of the sweet comments/messages,’ along with five purple hearts. 

Davis created the viral meme when she was in college in 2012. She attached an old photograph of Timberlake with ‘It’s Gonna Be May’ written across the bottom of her personal calendar near the last day of April.

In Timberlake’s defense, he has claimed he sang the titular line, ‘it’s gonna be me,’ with a distinctive twang because the song’s co-writer, Max Martin, instructed him to do so.

‘I think he just wanted me to sound like I was from Tennessee,’ the singer, who hails from Tennessee, told a British radio station in 2016.