Justin Timberlake’s beatbox era evidently mystified him just as much as his fans.
“I often look back on that time as well. I still haven’t come up with any answers,” the “Cry Me a River” hitmaker, 45, commented in response to a fan’s Tuesday, October 6, Instagram video captioned: “We don’t talk about Justin Timberlake beatboxing enough.”
Timberlake, who indulged in multiple beatboxing stints while performing as part of the hit boy band group ‘NSync in the 2000s, continued, “I don’t know how to apologize enough for whatever those ambitions were. Too many boots. Too many cats. I hope you can forgive me.”
However, the musician did not rule out revisiting his old habit.
“Also, I can’t promise I won’t do it again. God help us all,” he wrote. His comment gained more than 18,000 “likes” at the time of publication.
Timberlake also hit “like” on the post, created by pop culture commentator Hannah Young.
Young stated in the video that there “was a moment in time where that man would be in the middle of a song and just ‘boots and cats, boots and cats,’” before getting into her take on the lack of public reaction.
“We were, like, yes, there he is, nobody questioned it, nobody said, “Justin, you know, we have drums, this is a professional recording studio, there are instruments available to you,” she hilariously detailed. “But no, Justin Timberlake wanted to make space noises with his mouth. You couldn’t stop him, award shows, live performances. You gave that man a microphone and there was always a chance he was about to go, ‘boots and cats, boots and cats.’”
Young further recalled, “We liked it. That’s what I need us to sit with. We were watching that man make drum noises with his mouth. Like, ‘oh my God, what can’t he do?’ I think about it sometimes.”
Timberlake’s beatboxing was featured in his former boy band’s 2001 single “Pop” — a performance the singer carried into his solo career with the following year’s “Cry Me a River.”
His Instagram comments come after a 2023 Hot Ones appearance alongside his former ‘NSync bandmates that saw Timberlake publicly address his beatboxing tendencies for the first time. While he labelled his past work as “slightly regrettable,” Lance Bass considered his beatboxing to be “iconic.”
Young’s followers were also divided on Timberlake’s beatboxing, sharing their own thoughts alongside Timberlake’s apology in the video’s comment section.
“We are so here for it @justintimberlake we want all the boots and all the cats,” wrote one social media user while another wrote, “Why did we think it was normal?”
