Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06AMMAN1852
2006-03-13 15:03:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

PAS AMMAN BRINGS HIP HOP TO JORDAN

Tags:  KPAO OEXC SCUL JO 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

131503Z Mar 06
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001852 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR ECA/PE/C/CU (SROUSE); NEA/PPD (DBENZE)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OEXC SCUL JO
SUBJECT: PAS AMMAN BRINGS HIP HOP TO JORDAN


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001852

SIPDIS

STATE FOR ECA/PE/C/CU (SROUSE); NEA/PPD (DBENZE)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OEXC SCUL JO
SUBJECT: PAS AMMAN BRINGS HIP HOP TO JORDAN



1. SUMMARY: PAS Amman organized a highly successful musical
program with the American hip hop jazz ensemble Opus Akoben
February 27-March 1, 2006. The group performed live at three
venues in Irbid and Amman, and also conducted three master
classes. More than 550 young people from a broad range of
backgrounds attended the concerts. The program enabled the
Mission to engage young Jordanians at a time of heightened
tension in the region and helped to create a sense of goodwill
toward the U.S. among Jordanian youth. Embassy Amman will
capitalize on this goodwill with its ongoing outreach
activities targeting this critical audience. End Summary.

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REACHING OUT TO YOUTH
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2. To reach young Jordanians with a positive message from the
U.S. and increase understanding of and appreciation for U.S.
society and values, the Public Affairs section of Embassy
Amman scheduled Opus Akoben at a variety of venues. The three
musical performances took place at Yarmouk University, at a
popular local dance club, and at the premier cultural venue in
downtown Amman. The band also conducted master classes with
students from Yarmouk University in Irbid, students at the
University of Jordan and the Jordanian Academy for Music, and
students of the local Haya Cultural Center in Amman. Overall,
more than 145 students participated in the workshops.


3. At Yarmouk University in Irbid, Opus Akoben's program
began with a master class. They later gave an impromptu live
performance at the student activities building. Eighty
students attended the master class with Jordanian musicians
performing classical music which the band integrated into a
musical hip hop piece with Jordanian influences. The
musicians played together harmoniously as the different
musical traditions melded their respective musical voices.
Following the master class, the band then performed for an
audience that had grown to 110 students.

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MAKING AN IMPRESSION
--------------


4. Opus Akoben performed February 27 at Club Fez, a popular
local dance club in western Amman. Club Fez, which typically
uses recorded music or DJs as its draw, energized a full house
of 130 patrons with Opus Akoben's lively performance. Opus
Akoben's rich mix of hip hop with reggae and jazz overtones

kept the place hopping until early in the morning.

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CREATING AN OPENING
--------------


5. On Wednesday evening, March 1, 2006, Opus Akoben performed
live in front of more than 300 fans at Al Hussein Cultural
Center in Amman. The Center, usually the venue for staid
performances of classical or traditional music, saw its
ambience dramatically transformed. The evening started with a
short but lively set performed by the local funk band INK.
Opus Akoben then came on stage and by the end of the first
song had much of the audience clapping or dancing in their
seats. Then, with the onset of next song, some 50 fans came
down front and spent the rest of the concert dancing in front
of the stage while others danced in the aisles. Opus engaged
the crowd with classic hip-hop call-and-response interaction,
and a group of "b-boys" fans even came on stage to perform
break-dance moves. The audience of high school and university
students was totally enthralled with this multi-influential,
rhyme-driven hip-hop funk music and dance.

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ENGAGING AN AUDIENCE OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE
--------------


6. The impact of this program was fortuitous and timely.
Fortuitous as it enabled Embassy Amman to advance its MPP goal
of increasing mutual understanding among a hard-to-reach
constituency - Jordanian youth. The positive message promoted
by the band was applauded by all in attendance. This was not
the hip-hop often portrayed in popular music videos, featuring
"gangsta rap" and misogyny - at ease with drugs and violence.
This was a more constructive rap of socially-engaged rhyming
to a beat, dealing with social reality in stark but heartfelt
terms. The program was timely as Jordanians, like many Arabs,
have a low regard for U.S. foreign policy. This music was a
way to avoid polemics and speak of shared values through music
directly to the youth. As Terence Nicholson, one of Opus
Akoben's two lead rappers said in thanking the audience: "What
comes from the heart goes to the heart." The goodwill
generated by this program and similar PAS activities will
create more openness for Embassy Amman activities that promote
reform and empowerment. An indication of the success of the
program was the numerous requests for the band to return to
the area later in the year.

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HELPING WITH COSTS
--------------


7. The Municipality of Amman provided the Hussein Cultural
Center and its support staff free of charge. Local band INK
opened for Opus Akoben free-of-charge, bringing along their
enthusiastic local fans.

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GETTING THE WORD OUT
--------------


8. Press coverage of the program included a taped interview
on the popular music station Beat FM, which played the
interview after the performance. Embassy Amman also
distributed 200 posters and 400 flyers in both Arabic and
English to eight high schools in Amman and all 20 private and
public universities in Jordan, ensuring the widest possible
awareness of the event among the targeted audience.

HALE