ABSTRACT
This chapter examines aesthetic borders that separate the audible from the inaudible, arguing that the ordering of a sensible world in particular the audible and the visible is part of the manifestation of political domination and power. Popular music played a vital role in affirming the dominant messages and producing a collective response. The chapter traces that sonic resistance by first looking at the relations between 9/11 and the fiercely militant and self-referential Paris himself, an artist whose tracks are dedicated to depicting the reality of racial oppression but also his own efforts to proclaim freedom, provocation, and 'upliftin'. Approaching the politics of 9/11 through the sensible, the chapter focuses on audibility, by listening closely to the literal sounds of catastrophe, terror, and war. Through lyrics, formal elements, guest rappers, and even the music's reception, the album redefines and re-enacts the concept of an alternative nationhood through the competing historical discourse of Black nationalism.
