It's Gonna Be Me

"It's Gonna Be Me"
Single by NSYNC
from the album No Strings Attached
B-side	"This Is Where the Party's At"
Released	June 13, 2000
Format	CD single, cassette
Recorded	July 17–18, 1999 New York City, New York, U.S.[1]
Genre	Dance-pop
Length	3:12
Label	Jive
Writer(s)	Max Martin, Andreas Carlsson, Rami Yacoub
Producer(s)	Rami Yacoub
NSYNC singles chronology
"Bye Bye Bye" (2000) "It's Gonna Be Me" (2000) "I'll Never Stop" (2000) Music video "It's Gonna Be Me" on YouTube

"It's Gonna Be Me" is a song by American boy band NSYNC. It was released as the second single in the United States and third in Europe from their second studio album No Strings Attached (2000). The lyrics are addressed to a woman who apparently had bad experiences in previous relationships. The singer assures her that "I'm not like them", and that he's prepared to wait for her. When she is ready to love someone again, he maintains, "It's gonna be me".

The song was NSYNC's only Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit, making it their highest-charting single. It topped the chart for two consecutive weeks and has been certified Gold by the RIAA.

Music video

The music video was directed by Wayne Isham. It was shot from April 27–28, 2000. The video debuted on MTV's TRL on May 23, 2000. It was released on MTV's "Making the Video". Joji Tani, known by Screaming Mad George, provided make-up work for the video.

The video begins in a large toy store, with "Bye Bye Bye" playing in the background. Each group member is an animated plastic doll version of themselves in a box similar to their album cover. They punch through the plastic front of their boxes and try to attract the attention of the girl shopping (Kim Smith, who also appears as the puppeteer in "Bye Bye Bye") so that they can be bought. Army men abseil down from a higher shelf, destroy their boxes, and laugh at them when they are purchased. Next, the boys spot a set of Barbie-like dolls and go hang out with them. The Barbies drop a net on them, and again tease them when they are bought and NSYNC is not. Finally, the group gets back to their shelf and does a dance for the shopping girl. She buys them, and upon scanning, each doll becomes the real-life version of each group member. All of this is interspersed with the band in a color-lit room singing and dancing with the lights changing colors.

In popular culture

Following the release of the video, dolls like those portrayed by the band were created, with strings attached as a reference to the group's smash hit video "Bye Bye Bye".

Timberlake's unique pronunciation of the word "...Me" in the song led to an internet craze which has seen the creation of memes of Timberlake's face with the inscription "It's Gonna Be May!" shared on the internet by numerous users - including Barack Obama - every 30th of April. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

In 2016, Fall Out Boy created a follow-up music video for their song "Irresistible" featuring Demi Lovato, which is also directed by Isham and features cameos from Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone.

Track listings and formats

U.S. single 1 limited edition

1. "It's Gonna Be Me" (single version) – 3:11
2. "It's Gonna Be Me" (Maurice Joshua Radio Mix) – 4:11

U.S. single 2

1. "It's Gonna Be Me" (single version) – 3:11
2. "It's Gonna Be Me" (Jack D. Elliot Remix Radio Edit) – 3:49
3. "It's Gonna Be Me" (Digital Black-N-Groove Club Mix) – 8:07
4. "It's Gonna Be Me" (Jazzy Jim's Remix) – 3:49
5. "It's Gonna Be Me" (Azza's Groove Mix) – 3:46
6. "It's Gonna Be Me" (Jack D. Elliot Club Mix) – 6:04
7. "It's Gonna Be Me" (Digital Black-N-Dub) – 5:15

U.S. vinyl

1. "It's Gonna Be Me" (Digital Black-N-Groove Club Mix) – 8:05
2. "It's Gonna Be Me" (radio edit) – 3:11
3. "Bye Bye Bye" (Riprock & Alex G Club Remix) – 4:53

International single

1. "It's Gonna Be Me" (single version) – 3:11
2. "It's Gonna Be Me" (instrumental) – 3:13
3. "This Is Where the Party's At" (previously unreleased version) – 3:42
4. "Bye Bye Bye" (Teddy Riley Mix) – 3:40

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2000) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[5] 11 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 40 Canadian RPM Top Singles 1 Germany (Official German Charts)[7] 37 Ireland (IRMA)[8] 23 Italy (FIMI)[9] 13 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] 30 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 7 Norway (VG-lista)[12] 11 Scotland (Official Charts Company)[13] 11 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 6 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 39 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[16] 9 US Billboard Hot 100 1 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard) 1 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard) 28

Year-end charts Chart (2000) Position US Billboard Hot 100[17] 27

References

1. "'N Sync". MTV.
2. A reminder from Justin Timberlake: 'It's gonna be May'
3. Let Justin Timberlake Remind You That ‘It’s Gonna Be May’
4. Great Thing of the Day: Barack Obama Has Out-Memed Us All
5. "Australian-charts.com – 'N Sync – It's Gonna Be Me". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
6. "Austriancharts.at – 'N Sync – It's Gonna Be Me" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
7. "Musicline.de – 'N Sync Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
8. "Chart Track: Week 30, 2000". Irish Singles Chart.
9. "Italiancharts.com – 'N Sync – It's Gonna Be Me". Top Digital Download.
10. "Nederlandse Top 40 – 'N Sync search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
11. "Charts.org.nz – 'N Sync – It's Gonna Be Me". Top 40 Singles.
12. "Norwegiancharts.com – 'N Sync – It's Gonna Be Me". VG-lista.
13. "Archive Chart: 2000-09-10". Scottish Singles Top 40.
14. "Swedishcharts.com – 'N Sync – It's Gonna Be Me". Singles Top 100.
15. "Swisscharts.com – 'N Sync – It's Gonna Be Me". Swiss Singles Chart.
16. "Archive Chart: 2000-09-16" UK Singles Chart.
17. "Billboard Top 100 - 2000". Retrieved 2010-08-31.

External links

• "It's Gonna Be Me" Official Music Video on YouTube