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 
 
 
¶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 
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¶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 
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¶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 
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¶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 
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¶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 
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¶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