The singer is posting a number of mysterious photos and videos hinting at possible forthcoming new music.
Is Justin Timberlake teasing fans with the release of his long-awaited sixth album? Based on a number of cryptic social media posts, many fans certainly think so.
The musician first took to TikTok on Tuesday, where he appeared to be on the set of some sort of cinematic production (perhaps a music video), staged in a large cathedral-esque building with arched, vaulted ceilings.
Timberlake responded to a comment asking, "New music????" by simply counting on his fingers, and finally stopping when he got to six, before raising his eyebrows and walking off.
He left the post captionless.
Then, on Wednesday, Timberlake returned to Instagram to share only his second post since scrubbing his account clean earlier this month.
The latest post featured a slideshow of pictures and the vague caption, "EITIW."
The first photo in the carousel post showed an upside-down faux missing person flyer asking "Have you seen this man?" and then his name.
Another photo included a soundstage, as well a a miniature recreation of a brick wall with an ice chest. The final photo showed what appears to be an orange harddrive with the letters "EITIW" marked in sharpie along the front.
Fans quickly began speculating that "EITIW" is the name of his forthcoming sixth album, and there were no shortage of suggestions for what those initials could stand for. The more creative suggestions included "Everytime I Twerk I Win," "Erika Is the Ideal Wife," and "Energized Igloo Trampolining Is Weird," among others.
However, the internet's best (and more agreed upon) guess is Everything I Thought I Was. Billboard reports that some dedicated Redditors actually managed to find a trademark application filed last year for that title, as well as the phrase "Everything I Thought It Was…A Sonic Film."
If connected, this could mean Timberlake is working on a cinematic musical experience to go along with the new album -- which would explain the shots of a soundstage and various sets the singer has been teasing.
If his sixth album is on the way, it would be his first release since 2018's Man of the Woods debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 and earned Timberlake a GRAMMY nomination.
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