Hip-Hop Troupe Travels to Pakistan to Promote Diplomacy

Hip-hop troupe The F.E.W. Collective recently traveled from Chicago to Islamabad, Pakistan, to promote improve relations between the U.S. and the South Asian nation.

The multi-ethnic troupe entertained their audience, rapping, breakdancing and reciting poetry as part of the U.S. State Department's American Festival of the Arts, a cultural program designed to counter America's negative image. The goal, according to U.S. assistant cultural attaché Jamie Martin, is to prove "that there's another layer to the relationship. It's not just government to government and military to military. It's people to people."

Check out Reuters' report on the event after the jump.

While the audience members at The F.E.W. Collective's performance appeared entertained, only 12% of Pakistanis have a favorable opinion of the U.S., according to a July poll by the Pew research center, and turning that figure around will be no easy feat.

"I definitely think the State Department's initiative to soften the image of Americans and America in Pakistan is working," explained Pakastani American Asad Jafri, a founder of The F.E.W. Collective.

"We like the people of the United States," said audience member Walid Khan. "We don't have any comment to make about the government though."