Bye, bye, bye … to beatboxing.
Justin Timberlake is begging fans for forgiveness as he looks back on his cringeworthy beatboxing days.
The singer commented on a video from social media creator Hannah Young, known as @uhhuhhannah on Instagram, in which she discussed his former beatboxing era.
“We don’t talk about Justin Timberlake beatboxing enough,” Young said in the video posted Sunday. “Because 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. And 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 continued. “But no, Justin Timberlake wanted to make space noises with his mouth. You couldn’t stop him … awards 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 added. “And we liked it. That’s what I need us to sit with.”
She concluded, “We were watching that man make drum noises with his mouth like, ‘Oh my God, what can’t he do?’ I just, I think about it sometimes.”
Timberlake, 45, responded to Young’s video in the comments, admitting that he regrets some of his past “ambitions.”
“I often look back on that time as well. I still haven’t come up with any answers,” he wrote. “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.”
The “SexyBack” hitmaker then seemingly left the door open to another beatboxing comeback.
“Also, I can’t promise I won’t do it again. God help us all,” he concluded.
Timberlake previously addressed his beatboxing habit during a 2023 appearance on “Hot Ones” alongside his *NSYNC bandmates Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez and Joey Fatone.
Host Sean Evans highlighted Timberlake’s “beatbox battle interlude” during the group’s stadium tour shows, prompting him to weigh in on the bit.
“File that under, you know, slightly regrettable,” he said, while Bass dubbed the moment “iconic.”
Timberlake has had his share of viral moments over the years.
In April, he shared a throwback video of himself chatting with a young Justin Bieber after the pop star shouted him out during his headlining Coachella set.
Timberlake also included a clip of Bieber performing his 2002 hit “Cry Me a River” in the same Instagram post.
“I grew up listening to Justin Timberlake and so many other beautiful talents, but I remember this like it was yesterday,” Bieber said onstage, before singing along to a throwback cover of the track he had recorded and posted to YouTube before he became famous.
