Rap icon Jay-Z surprised fans this week by adding an umlaut to his moniker.
The rapper subtly underwent the name change ahead of his upcoming reunion with The Roots. His name now read JAŸ-Z on the billing for the annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia concert on May 30.
Not only that, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, also tweaked his stage name on major music streaming platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal to include the diacritical mark.
And it seems like the name change is the 56-year-old’s way stay in touch with his roots. Interestingly, cover art from his earliest records—including his 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt and its breakout singles "Ain't No N---a," "Can't Knock the Hustle" and "Feelin' It"—featured the umlaut.
But this is not first time the Beyoncé’s husband has toyed with his name. In 2013, he famously dropped the hyphen from his name. “The hyphen was really big back in the day. It’s not useful anymore," he said in an interview. "You change with the times."
"I had umlauts over one of the letters," the Grammy winner continued. "I removed the umlaut, too."
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However, the hyphen was reintroduced later for his 2017 album “4:44”.
"'Jay Z' is now a relic of the past, consigned to the dustbin of history," a statement issued by his team read at the time. "In its place stands JAY-Z, now with the hyphen back in its place and the whole name in all-caps."
Remarkably, Jay’s not the only one with unique moniker. He and his wife Beyoncé have given unconventional names to their three children.
In a previous interview, Jay had explained their 13-year-old daughter Blue Ivy Carter’s name. “We were calling her Blueberry. Like, ‘Look at the little blueberry.’ It was like a nickname. It just was natural. We just took the 'berry' off and called her Blue,” he said.
The couple also has a n interesting story behind naming their 7-year-old twins Rumi Carter and Sir Carter.
"Rumi is our favourite poet, so it was for our daughter," Jay explained on the Rap Radar podcast in 2017, adding that his son "came out" like a gentleman when he was born. "Sir was like, man, come out the gate. He carries himself like that."
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