Owl Symbolism in Contemporary Popular Hip Hop Culture

Athena is the greek goddess of war, wisdom, strength, strategy, civilization, justice and skill. She is depicted as an owl on Greco-Roman coins to symbolize status, intelligence and wealth. In other cultures (Egyptian, Hindu for example), the owl took on many other meanings, one specifically being guardianship (ie- keeper of the spirits, transition, ect). I dont view its association with death as negative, but rather, I view it as a caretaker for for life--including after life.

(New Subject, but itll all relate, i swear)

I recently heard an NPR talk about Jay-Z, then immediately after I saw his interview on Charlie Rose. In it, he talked about his origins and how they related to and contributed to the dialogue of the origins of hip hop. Jay-Z has a book out, which I need to buy immediately. There is also another book called "Big Payback: The History and Business of Hip Hop" (very important).

The hip hop industry (music side) brings in about $1billion per year, while the fashion/branding side makes about $2billion. Images and brands are a very important part of the culture. 

(Bringing it all together)

I chose to use the owl and its associations as a jumping off point to start a series of small portraits of todays biggest rappers and their brand associations. We'll see where this goes. At this point, its mainly just formal. I dont know what its going to lead to. Because the last 30 years of development of rap were pretty substantial, I've decided I need to limit myself to 5 or 6, and they have to be alive and popular today. Products of the groundwork their predecessors have laid. So far I have Jay-Z. Next, Im doing Nicki Minaj. I have a few more......narrowing between Lil Wayne, Kanye West, 50 cent, Eminem, Missy Elliot,  TI, and Snoop Dogg (still!).

This is one of the only business i can think of that not only dresses the people, but addresses them too.

I am obsessed with the concept of "cool". Mark Zuckerburg said that cool is a priceless asset you should never give up. This all feeds into a larger context.....youth culture, real time web, originality, the idea of the archive......