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Jay Z Is Now JAY-Z

OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 01: Recording artist Jay-Z attends Game 1 of the 2017 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on June 1, 2017 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

For most of his recording career, rapper Shawn Carter put out his music under the name Jay-Z. A few years ago, news broke that Carter had removed the hyphen from his name for reasons scrutable only to genius, mercurial millionaire rappers. “That was like three years ago, I don’t know how that story resurfaced, but I guess it was a slow news day,” he said to Big Boy’s Neighborhood about the change, as Billboard recalls. “The hyphen was really big back in the day. It’s not useful anymore. I had umlauts over one of the letters; I removed that too.” Now, in advance of his newly announced album 4:44, Carter has made a similarly dramatic change: The hyphen is back.

As Pitchfork confirms, the rapper formerly known as Jay Z is now JAY-Z, according to a Tidal rep. (Yes, in all caps.) Curiously, the teaser for 4:44 stylized his name as JAY: Z in a closing credit, but it’s uploaded to YouTube under JAY-Z.

Does this change anything about his music, and is it anything more than branding? Well, no and no. But it’s information you now have when collating your year-end lists, or organizing your mp3s. Please adjust accordingly. 4:44 is out June 30.