Jay-Z aficionados noticed this week that the hip hop icon has added an umlaut to his name.
An announcement that the “99 Problems” rapper is joining The Roots for the band’s two-day Philly music fest was billed as, “JAŸ-Z and The Roots,” and his artist name on Spotify, YouTube and more is now spelled the same way.
The inspiration for the change isn’t Mötley Crüe, but rather a tribute to one of his classic records. Pals of the star pointed out to us that Jay used the same German punctuation on the cover art of his 1996 release, “Reasonable Doubt.” And this year marks the album’s 30th anniversary.
Jay-Z is partial to punctuation: In 2013, he dropped the hyphen from his name, then brought it back in 2017, changing it to all caps. He reformatted his moniker as JAY:Z for his “4:44” album, making him a copy editor’s nightmare. Either way, “JAŸ-Z and The Roots” will headline a May 30 gig for the Roots Picnic.