Women have been the backbone of hip-hop since its earliest inception. Along with perseverance and creativity, they possess a spiritual and metaphysical presence. These female creators have a profound potency that makes them the perfect symbols for an oracle deck to help you address a question or set your intention for the day.
The fifty-two artists included—from MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah, and Lil’ Kim to Beyoncé, Missy Elliott, Cardi B, and Nicki Minaj—are hip-hop’s oracles, now immortalized from tape deck to card deck. Veteran music journalist and certified oracle reader Kathy Iandoli matched each queen with an appropriate symbol, based on her decades of experience interviewing (and befriending) iconic artists, past and present. Rendered in the bold, colorful, pop art–style portraiture of artist Monica Ahanonu on sturdy, oversized cards with rounded corners, these DJs, MCs, and singers will guide you the same way they’ve blazed trails from the underground to the mainstream since day one.
Author
Kathy Iandoli
Kathy Iandoli is a critically acclaimed journalist and the author of God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop, Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah, The Hip-Hop Queens Oracle Deck (illustrated by Monica Ahanonu), and co-author of Eve’s forthcoming Who’s That Girl, Lil’ Kim’s forthcoming The Queen Bee, and Prodigy’s Commissary Kitchen. She has written for VIBE, The Source, XXL, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Pitchfork, Playboy, PAPER, Cosmopolitan, Maxim, The Guardian, and VICE and held editorial positions at AllHipHop, HipHopDX, and BET online. Iandoli is a Professor of Music Business and Writing at New York University and has appeared on television, radio, and panels discussing hip-hop and gender. She is also the premier Media Coach for both up-and-coming musicians and Billboard chart-topping superstars, incorporating elements of Life Coaching and Mental Health Wellness into her coaching programs.
Learn More about Kathy Iandoli