About

Hip-Hop has influenced the ways that people around the world dress, speak, and think, yet it remains intrinsically tied to Black American culture. One rapper, Lord Jamar, has characterized hip-hop as “a black man’s thing” and White rappers as “guests in the house of hip-hop” who have been welcomed into the genre as performers but should not question or criticize the Back artists at the core of the culture. How might White fans best respond when Noname, a young Black woman and a rising star, announces that she no longer wants to perform for a predominantly White crowd, or White journalists when Kanye West asks White publications to stop commenting on Black music? A Guest in the House, a podcast hosted by rapper and journalist David Shanks (aka Traum Diggs) and professor and author Mickey Hess, celebrates the best of what hip-hop has to offer and the lessons it can teach us about the ways we relate to each other.

David Shanks, aka Traum Diggs, is an MC/writer/journalist from Brooklyn, NY. He began writing articles in 2005, contributing correspondent features for print and online publications and has participated in conferences and panels at several colleges and universities including Rider University and SUNY- Rockland. He has also contributed chapters in Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide; Expressive Writing: Classroom and Community; and St. James Encyclopedia of Hip-Hop. His independent album releases include Jazz Hop, Major Journalism, and Jazz Hop II. traumdiggs.com and @traumdiggs on IG and Twitter.

Dr. Mickey Hess is Professor of English at Rider University and the author of A Guest in the House of Hip-Hop: How Rap Music Taught a Kid from Kentucky What a White Ally Should Be. With rapper and producer Buddha Monk, Mickey co-authored The Dirty Version: On Stage, in the Studio, and in the Streets with Ol' Dirty Bastard. His other books include Big Wheel at the Cracker Factory; Is Hip-Hop Dead? The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Most Wanted Music; and the edited collections Icons of Hip-Hop and Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide. Mickey Hess. @mickeyhess on Twitter. Books available.