Jay-Z reveals name change with personal meaning

Jay-Z‘s got 99 problems, but his name ain’t one

The rapper subtly underwent a name change in preparation for his upcoming reunion with The Roots, adding an umlaut to his moniker to read JAŸ-Z on the billing for the annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia concert on May 30.

Not only that, Jay (real name 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 appears that the name change is the 56-year-old’s way stay in touch with his, well, roots. After all, 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 an umlaut.

But this isn’t first time the Beyoncé’s husband has toyed with the punctuation. 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 explained in a Big Boy’s Neighborhood interview. “You change with the times.”

“I had umlauts over one of the letters,” the Grammy winner continued. “I removed the umlaut, too.”

However, the hyphen was reintroduced in time 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 to Entertainment Weekly 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.”