it’s gonna be May

meme
An annual Internet joke about Justin Timberlake and the start of May

What does It’s gonna be May mean?

It’s gonna be May is an Internet meme that jokes about how celebrity Justin Timberlake sings the word me in a way that sounds like may in the pop song “It’s Gonna Be Me.” It is popularly posted each year online as a playful, punny way to mark the beginning of the month of May.

Examples of It’s gonna be May

Happy "It's Gonna be May!" 🌺 / Where are we traveling this month?
@allianztravelus, Threads, 1 May 2024

Wow. It's the end of April already? You know what that means. / It's gonna be May.
@WallyWelshCorgi, X (formerly Twitter), 30 Apr. 2021

Brace yourselves, because the *NSYNC "it's gonna be May" memes are coming. It's Apr. 30, which means that it is, indeed, going to be May within the next few hours.
Jessica Booth, Bustle, 30 Apr. 2019

Where does It’s gonna be May come from?

It’s gonna be May is based on the 2000 hit pop song “It’s Gonna Be Me” by the boy band NSYNC. In that song, member Justin Timberlake sings the titular refrain in a stylized manner where his pronunciation of the word me sounds more like may. In January 2012 on the social website Tumblr, a user named amyricha posted a picture of Justin Timberlake captioned (as an apparent joke about this pronunciation) It’s gonna be May. (Fun fact: a word that results from mishearing lyrics is called a mondegreen.) The meme spread, and posting versions of it developed into an Internet tradition on and leading up to the start of May. As a result, both April 30 and May 1 are sometimes called It’s Gonna Be May Day.

While mainstream interest in it appears to have peaked around 2018, the meme has generated its own variations, becoming embraced by Justin Timberlake himself and his former NSYNC bandmates as well.

How is It’s gonna be May used?

The meme usually appears online in two main ways. One is in the form of a picture of Justin Timberlake—typically as a young adult and sporting outmoded hair and fashion styles —captioned with It’s gonna be May. The other is in the form of short audio or music video clip of him singing the original song “It’s Gonna Be Me.” The hashtag #itsgonnabemay is often used in conjunction with these. Starting in April (especially on April 30 and May 1) people share the meme, usually as a punchline about how May is coming or has arrived. Setups for the joke are sometimes creative engagements with other Internet jokes, such as in the form of a humorous riff on the “Roses are Red” children’s poem:

Roses are red
April is gray
But when you wake up tomorrow
It’s gonna be May

As is generally the case with Internet trends, the meme’s popularity has ebbed and flowed over time, prompting a range of ironic usage and self-referential commentary. Still, each year, on April 30, expect plenty of posts on social media to remind you, earnestly or humorously, about what’s so special about the next day. Because after April 30? Well, you know what that means…

Last Updated: 23 Jan 2025
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