Jay-Z Hyphen Dropped By Shawn Carter; 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' Rapper Now Jay Z

Jay Z Is No Longer Jay-Z

Jay Z made a style change to his name years ago, but it's only just coming to light this week. According to Billboard editor Joe Levy, the rap icon, sports agent and mobile phone pitchman dropped the hyphen from Jay-Z before even the "Watch the Throne" album release. That means Jay Z is no longer Jay-Z.

Despite the fact that Jay Z hasn't been Jay-Z for the last couple of years, not many people seemed to have noticed. As Levy pointed out, even Roc Nation was confused: Jay Z is listed as Jay-Z on the album cover for 2009's "The Blueprint 3," but not elsewhere on the record:

The change also wasn't noticed by the 2013 ESPY producers, who had "Saturday Night Live" cast member Jay Pharoah impersonate Jay Z on the sports awards telecast Thursday night. Watch that bit of hilarity below, if only because Snoop Lion and Lebron James appeared to be in a battle to see who could look more unamused.

2014 MTV Video Music Awards - Fixed Show

Beyonce & Jay Z

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