Just What Is JAY-Z — Ahem — JAŸ-Z Up To?

What did Joseph Gordon-Levitt tell Bane’s henchmen in The Dark Knight Rises? Something like, “As detectives, we’re not allowed to believe in coincidence”? Or maybe he said “journalists?” When I rewatch The Dark Knight Rises, I like to pretend he did. Either way, JAY-Z just did a couple of things that got my inner investigator galaxy-braining all morning, and I’m reporting to tell y’all I think HOV is up to something. 

On Thursday, Feb. 19, the Brooklyn legend changed his name on Apple Music to JAŸ-Z. If you recall — which, let’s face it, you could easily not — he released “Dead Presidents” with his name styled that way, and it stayed that way through an early portion of his career. So that’s one thing. Another: he uploaded the DSP-elusive original “Dead Presidents” to streaming services earlier today, which is exactly 30 years after he originally released the single. 

Now. This doesn’t mean there’s an album rollout… rolling out. But! But. This June will mark the 30th anniversary of HOV’s debut album, Reasonable Doubt. Could his name change and the release of OG “Dead Presidents” be a sign of a 30th anniversary reunion tour? Or does HOV have plans to celebrate the milestone year with something even grander: a new album?

It’s been over half a decade since HOV dropped a lot of bars at once. Six years ago, he popped out as the Ghostface Killah to Jay Electronica’s Raekwon for A Written Testimony, a debut Electronica LP that, frankly, saw HOV dominate with his bar-in, bar-out performance. Before that, he and his wife Beyoncé dropped their stellar joint album, Everything Is Love. Before that? We got 4:44. So strictly speaking, it’s been almost 9 years since we got a solo release from JAŸ. In an era of misinformation, Roc-Nation conspiracies and a bunch of bad stuff in general, he’d have a lot to talk about if he did decide to drop. Here’s to hoping. 

But for now, check out the OG “Dead Presidents” for yourself below.