Jay-Z kicked off his music career under the name “Jazzy.” However, as his career and music progressed, he switched to Jay-Z. So, what’s the story behind his stage name? Well, basically, it was a mix of paying homage to his mentor and music producer, Jaz-O, and Brooklyn’s J/Z subway line.
Jay-Z and Jaz-O were like brothers back in the day. He wrote about the start of their friendship and collaboration in “Decoded,” his 2010 autobiography. “I connected with an older kid who had a reputation as the best rapper in Marcy. Jaz was his name—and we started practicing our rhymes into a heavy-ass tape recorder with a makeshift mic attached,” Jay-Z shared. “DJs started setting up sound systems in the project courtyards, and me and Jaz and other MCs from around the way would battle one another for hours.”
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Unfortunately, the brolationship turned to beef in 2001, after Jaz-O turned down Jay-Z’s offer to sign with his record label Roc-A-Fella. The heat was turned up when the ex-mentor allegedly collaborated with Jay-Z’s former nemesis, Nas, for his diss track “Ether.” His ex-mentee clapped back with his own diss tracks, “Get High (Freestyle)” and “What We Talkin’ About.” A lot of verbal sparring and smack-talking flowed over the next 20 years until the two finally kissed and made up in 2017. They were photographed hanging backstage during the Chicago leg of Jay-Z’s 4:44 tour.
