With the release of his newest album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, Jay Z managed to yet again please listeners and earn himself his 13th No. 1 hit on the Billboard charts. Somewhere along the way he decided that he no longer needs the hyphen in his name. The rapper has wasted no time making the change and is officially referred to as JAY Z  on his website and iTunes page.

Billboard editor, Joe Levy leaked the grammatical change to the Twitter masses yesterday night.

Breaking: Jay Z has dropped the hyphen from his name, according to his label. I am not kidding. (Wish I was.) Copy editors: take note.

— Joe Levy (@RealJoeLevy) July 18, 2013

The change has been taking quick roots across the world wide web since Levy’s announcement. Throughout the progression of his career, Jay Z has embodied numerous aliases for himself. Whether it’s been Hov or Hova or S.Dot, Jay has frequently toyed with his name.

This isn’t big news, but it will be interesting to see if Jay‘s name change will be taken more or less seriously than Mos Def‘s. Yasiin Bey still hasn’t quite caught on yet.

The post News: Jay Z Has Altered His Name appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Street-turned-gallery artists SKI and 2ESAE, who together form the art collective URNEWYORK, got their hands on a batch of Jay-Z‘s lyric prints for MCHG and injected some visual street energy back into them. Below, you’ll find two videos: one detailing the creation of the prints, as they evolve from stark, censored easels to wild and vibrant pieces of street-inspired art, the second video taking you on a virtual tour of the finished products. If you were wondering where these momentous prints would wind up, get excited–the answer could be “your hands.” The video’s description details the following about UR‘s decision on what to do with the finished artworks:

UR, as perhaps the sole artists being given a copy, decided to create a sort of (re)work. Appropriating the Jay-Z brand’s idea, and redistributing the gift back into the population. 5 works, one for each of the 5 boros of New York are slated to be given out via city-wide scavenger hunt, with details emerging soon @URNEWYORK.

Go on, art nuts, get looking! But before you do, check out the twin videos and the hi-def shots of the prints that URNEWYORK released to us. Also, check out their website; it’s full of tons of good info on these guys, including the facts that their work has been featured in the MOMA, at Sundance Film Fest, and that SKI and 2ESAE are known to do motivational speaking in high schools in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Salute.

The post Art Collective URNEWYORK Gives Life To Magna Carta Lyric Sheets appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.