An artist by any other name...
Many musicians take on a stage name at the start of their career; some even switch their names over the years. There are a few reasons why: changing religion, an argument with the record company or pure boredom.
Kanye is officially 'Ye'
The controversial rapper has different nicknames, such as Yeezy or Pablo. "Ye," the title of his eighth album released in June, was another one of them. He "officialized" the change by switching his Twitter and and Instagram name to "ye," tweeting: "the being formally [sic] known as Kanye West... I am YE."
Starts with a P – perhaps
Puff Daddy was the name of a young producer who made his way into the rap empire in the 1990s. Sean Combs, the man behind the name as well as the record company, Bad Boy, likewise launched his own clothing line under the moniker Sean John. Those are just a few of his many aliases, which also include: P. Diddy, Diddy, Puffy, Swag – and most recently, Love or Brother Love.
A symbolic protest
The singer Prince, who used his given first name when launching his music career, went on to change his stage name out of protest against his-then label, Warner. In 1993, he dropped the name, replacing it with a symbol and asked that people refer to him as "The Artist formerly known as Prince." He returned to Prince in 2000.
A return to the original
The British singer made her debut as Lily Allen but after marrying, she took on her first and middle name followed by her husband's last name in 2012 to become Lily Rose Cooper. That same year she sang the duet "True Love" with Pink. Unsure if her fans would recognize her, the singer released her 2014 album "Sheezus" once again under the name Lily Allen.
From a Snoop to just plain Dogg
Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. has undergone a number of name changes since first taking to the stage in 1993 with his breakthrough album, "Doggystyle." The California rapper who went by the name of Snoop Doggy Dogg asked to be called Snoop Lion in 2012, when he crossed over to reggae. That changed when he released funk music under the nomenclature Snoopzilla. In 2015, he returned to his roots.
A mega-star goes unknown
In the rap business, names can make or break you. There's hardly a rapper who takes the stage under his real name, including Dante Terrell Smith, who rose to fame as Mos Def in the late 1990s. One of the figureheads of conscious rap, he has appeared as Yasiin Bey since 2012, though he has not put out a new album. He recently gave a farewell tour but how things will go on remains to be seen.
World-famous convert
Cat Stevens gained world fame with titles like "Morning has Broken" before he converted to Islam in 1977. Henceforth he went by the name Yusuf Islam – and long turned his back on music. He continued to make headlines, however, with donations to Hamas and statements about the fatwa issued against Salman Rushdie. He started releasing new albums in 2006; his latest is signed Yusuf/Cat Stevens.