Every year, May 1st marks the day that a certain meme starts to trend. This meme is a simple picture of Justin Timberlake from his younger years, and often includes a phrase referencing the month of May.

But why this specific picture of young Timberlake, and what does it have to do with May? Here's the background and meaning behind the seasonal "It's Gonna Be May" meme.

Where Did It Start?

Before going solo, Justin Timberlake used to be part of one of the most popular 90's boy bands in the world, basically BTS but before Twitter and "Gangnam Style."

This band, NSYNC, had a wildly successful song called "It's Gonna Be Me" in which the lead vocal part went to Timberlake, with his biggest line being "it's gonna be me."

But since it's spoken through Timberlake's singing accent, many mistook the "me" as "may." This misunderstood lyric was so prevalent at the time that when NSYNC uploaded the music video they included the fan lyric as an alternate title to it.

Why May 1st?

May 1st happens to be May Day, a holiday devoted to the workers of different countries. On May Day, it would make sense to have a self-referential meme like "It's Gonna Be May" take place on May Day.

This also falls in line with the similarly themed meme "Wake Me Up When September Ends" in which October 1st is the day chosen for people to boost memes about Green Day.

Because of this, every May 1st is when images of Timberlake, or random images in general, are used with the misheard lyrics put as a caption.

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For the full details on the 'It's Gonna Be May' meme, be sure to check out our entry on the meme for even more information.