Jay-Z Changes His Name on His Music for a Meaningful Reason

NEED TO KNOW

• Jay-Z has reintroduced the umlaut over the “Y” in his name, reflecting the change on streaming platforms and event posters

• The name change nods to the rapper’s early career when the umlaut appeared on album covers like his 1996 debut studio album, Reasonable Doubt

• He will perform at Yankee Stadium in July and with The Roots at the Roots Picnic in May

Allow him to reintroduce himself.

Jay-Z is making a subtle-yet-meaningful change to his name ahead of several big milestone moments in his music career.

The 56-year-old rapper, whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter, quietly added the umlaut back over the “Y” in his name, displaying it on several advertisements for upcoming events, including the New York native’s recently announced summer dates performing at Yankee Stadium.

The poster for the special nights — including a show dedicated to his debut studio album, 1996’s Reasonable Doubt, on July 10 and his 2001 album The Blueprint on July 11 — shows the newly-altered name.

According to Merriam Webster, an umlaut is a “diacritical mark ¨ placed over a vowel to indicate a more central or front articulation.”

In reality, the change harkens back to Jay-Z’s roots as the rapper previously featured the umlaut over his name early in his career on album and single covers, including Reasonable Doubt.

The change has also been reflected on streaming services like Spotify, Tidal, YouTube, Apple Music and more.

In addition to the Yankee Stadium dates, Jay-Z will also be performing with The Roots at the annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia on May 30, with the poster also highlighting the name change.

On Feb. 20, Jay-Z released his new single, “Dead Presidents,” with the single art reflecting the name change.

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This certainly isn’t the first time the 25-time Grammy winner, who also goes by the nickname “Hova” or “Hov,” has changed his name. In 2013, he dropped the hyphen from his name with his publicist telling Complex at the time that the hyphen hadn’t been used since 2010. He’s also previously stylized his name in all caps.

The “Empire State of Mind” hitmaker hasn’t released a full solo album since 2017’s 4:44. In 2018, he released the joint album Everything Is Love with his wife, Beyoncé.

In addition to his music career, Jay-Z’s company, RocNation, has also been partnered with the NFL since 2019, helping to bring musical acts to the Super Bowl Halftime Show in the years since.

Jay-Z and Beyonce share daughter Blue Ivy Carter, 14, and twins Rumi and Sir, both 8.

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