Jay Z changed his name (again)
You would think that Jay Z is a bit busy right now, considering that his wife Beyoncé maybe just had twins. But despite introducing two more little humans into his family, Jay Z still made time to change his name. Well, really, we should write JAY-Z because a rep for the rapper and entrepreneur’s Roc Nation confirmed to Pitchfork that he is stylizing his name in a new way, by reintroducing the hyphen and using all caps.
Back in 2013, long before talks of twins and when Blue Ivy was just 1 years old, it was officially announced that JAY-Z was dropping the hyphen from Jay-Z after two decades of embracing it. With that, Shawn Corey Carter went from being known as Jay-Z to Jay Z.
Breaking: Jay Z has dropped the hyphen from his name, according to his label. I am not kidding. (Wish I was.) Copy editors: take note.
— Joe Levy (@RealJoeLevy) July 18, 2013
This time around, he’s bringing back the hyphen and making the four letters all caps.
The name change announcement coincides with the news that JAY-Z will be releasing a new album, 4:44, on June 30th.
4:44 will be a Tidal exclusive. And just to add to the name confusion, JAY-Z appears to be stylized as JAY:Z with a colon for the album artwork. What the?
.@S_C_ x ‘4:44’ album x 6/30 https://t.co/mM3hBjHr84 #TIDALXSprint pic.twitter.com/zwaUlFrbwx
— TIDAL (@TIDAL) June 19, 2017
The album and name change news come after not only the possible birth of JAY-Z and Beyoncé’s twins, but also after he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 15th. Of course, knowing this power couple, this was probably strategic, but it doesn’t take away from our excitement.
4:44 will be JAY-Z’s first album since 2013’s Magna Carta Holy Grail, so prepare yourself accordingly and get ready for the revamped JAY-Z.