"The Government currently expects that Victim-1, Victim-2, Victim-3, and Victim-4 will testify at trial," the motion reads.

Hip-hop is, in part, a response to this history. At its best, hip-hop documents American life more reliably than American history. Some academic publishers have started to embrace this reality.

Northern Ghana is one such place, where a hip-hop revolution is quietly taking shape, ready to storm the global stage.