Justin Timberlake dishes on iconic 'It's gonna be me' meme on NSYNC's 'Hot Ones'

A newly reunited *NSYNC is ready for what might be the toughest challenge of their careers: "the wings of death."

The boyband ? whose five members made a surprise appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards last week ? were guests on Thursday's "Hot Ones" episode.

Host Sean Evans guided Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and JC Chasez through a lineup of hot sauces. As they gradually went up the Scoville scale, Evans challenged the group to answer probing questions.

When asked about some of the members making cameos in 2002's "Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones," Timberlake revealed he and Bass were "so butt hurt" they weren't asked to take part.

"We're getting to the nitty-gritty questions," Timberlake told Evans.

NSYNC wanted to give fans something 'familiar' with their 1st song in 20 years

NSYNC's "Hot Ones" appearance comes ahead of the release of their first new song in 20 years, a track on the "Trolls Band Together" movie soundtrack. The song, titled "Better Place," drops Sept. 29.

"For our fans that have been with us for so long, you know to give them something that felt not necessarily nostalgic but familiar," Timberlake said of the upcoming release. "And then see if we could take that sound and make it feel modern."

Chasez added, "When we listen to the world today we’re obviously influenced by 20 years of experiences but we still want to give them us."

After Evans asked about the band's sonic arrangements, Kirkpatrick admitted, "We kind of knew we sucked at singing certain things, so it was like, we just fell into our spots."

He added, "I knew I'd be the high stuff, these guys would do the leads, Joey would be in the middle and Lance would be on the bass."

Justin Timberlake says he was told to say 'May' in 'It's Gonna Be Me'

The iconic line that launched years of "it's gonna be May" memes was a specific stylistic choice, according to Timberlake.

"I sang 'It's gonna be me', and he was like, 'No, no, no, no, no. It's May!' Timberlake said, referring to the Swedish writers and producers the band worked with for the hit song.

He added, "You know what's funny? Specifically to Max Martin, the parts of their English that were broken actually made them catchier songwriters because they would put words (in) a way that almost didn't make sense, but when you sang them, they were more memorable, right? And yes, it was a specific note that I got, and I was just like, 'This guy is crazy.'"

"I knew one day they're going to invent this thing called memes," Timberlake joked. "But yes it was a specific note, and I did it the way he requested, and that's what made the record."

NSYNC is back! Hear a snippet of the group's first new song in 20 years

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NSYNC's 'Hot Ones' challenge: Justin explains 'it's gonna be May' meme