A Guest in the House

After discussing their mainstream vs. underground tastes in hip-hop, Mickey and David challenged each other to listen to an album they’d never heard before. Mickey chose Tame One and Junkwaffel’s Hell or High Water EP (2010) and Dave chose Beanie Sigel’s The Truth (1999). Steve Sachs, a rap parodist and a friend of the podcast who designed our cover art, joins the conversation having never before heard either album. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Junkwaffel.

Show Notes

Steve Sachs spent his years after college playing in a band. Designing flyers, merch and album covers eventually led him to a job in marketing, but after a few years in the field, he needed a change.

Prior to marketing, Steve worked with seniors living with memory impairment, and as a vocational trainer for young adults with special needs. He also volunteered at a soup kitchen, playing music with people experiencing homelessness. 

He learned firsthand that we cannot effectively help others until we truly understand them. Combining those lessons with his background in visual design led Steve to UX (user experience):  "I see UX as a practice that lives at the intersection of empathy and creativity. As it turns out, that’s where I’ve always lived, too."

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Music Courtesy of Traum Diggs:
"Alphabet Flex" (feat. Benaddict) by Traum Diggs

Featured audio courtesy of Steve Sachs:
NGS (feat. Ian Garwood)(Prod. by Eastman Presser)

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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 Culture. His independent album releases include Jazz Hop, Major Journalism, and Jazz Hop II.   A more complete discography is available at traumdiggs.com .

Social:
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IG:  @traumdiggs
Twitter:  @traumdiggs 


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.

Social:
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Twitter:  @mickeyhess

What is A Guest in the House?

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 across cultural, racial and social divides.