Maybe there was something more to Jay-Z's Axl Rose comparison when he told our Shaheem Reid he was gonna pull a stunt like the Guns N' Roses front man and withhold his next album?

It's been a while now since Hov announced he was working on The Blueprint 3 and all we've gotten so far is a track here and there. And we've also got those shots of Jay out and about, with his hair growing longer and longer.

It's like when Axl went MIA with Chinese Democracy, then popped up at the VMAs with his hair longer and braided in cornrows.

Or maybe not.

But Jay cleared up the mystery on New York's Hot 97 today when he said his growing 'do is just a result of him recording an album.

"When I make music, I normally don't cut my hair," Jay explained "I started [working on Blueprint 3] last year and it's getting really bad. It's terrible. But I think for the art, I can live with it.

"A lot of girls kind of like," he added, joking. "So I'm trying to hold onto it. I'm trying to elongate the album."