\n<\/p>\n
\n\tOver the past few years, Justin Timberlake<\/a> has done a lot of apologizing and taking accountability. The pop star hasn\u2019t had the smoothest mid-career run, whether he\u2019s solemnly copping to new indiscretions<\/a>, or confronting<\/a> old ones<\/a>. Social media, after all, has a way of resurfacing old, embarrassing incidents just when you think everyone\u2019s forgotten. Like the content creator Hannah Young, who shed fresh light on one of the more problematic patterns from the early days of Timberlake\u2019s career: incessant beatboxing<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tOn Monday, Young shared a video<\/a> about Timberlake\u2019s penchant for spitting \u201cboots and cats,\u201d and the audience\u2019s questionable willingness to just go along with it. \u201cNobody said, \u2018Justin, you know, we have drums? This is a professional recording studio. There are instruments available to you,\u2019\u201d Young deadpanned. \u201cBut, no. Justin Timberlake wanted to make space noises with his mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWell, it turns out Timberlake himself was listening and learning. In the comments to Young\u2019s post, he admitted, \u201cI often look back on that time as well. I still haven\u2019t come up with any answers. I don\u2019t know how to apologize enough for whatever those ambitions were. Too many boots. Too many cats.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tTimberlake even went so far as to seek forgiveness. But not without reminding everyone that humans are flawed, complicated creatures who, despite best intentions, sometimes act against their own self-interest and the well-being of others. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI can\u2019t promise I won\u2019t do it again,\u201d Timberlake solemnly wrote. \u201cGod help us all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tBeatboxing was indeed a huge part of Timberlake\u2019s shtick during the final days of \u2018NSync and the beginning of his blockbuster solo career. (And it goes without saying this is very much part of a larger discussion <\/a>about the pop star\u2019s long, complicated relationship with, use of, and profiting off of Black culture and music.) Timberlake\u2019s beatboxing featured on \u2019NSync\u2019s 2001 single \u201cPop,\u201d and he and producer Timbaland incorporated it liberally on solo songs like \u201cCry Me a River.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n