U.S. tries 'hip-hop' diplomacy in Pakistan

The U.S. embassy, seeking to improve America's image in Pakistan, brought a hip-hop troupe from Chicago to Islamabad, where they performed for a Westernized, educated elite audience of young Pakistanis.

Alsarah, a member of the hip-hop troupe FEW Collective, performs during a concert organized by the U.S. embassy in Islamabad November 14, 2011. The group's 10-day trip is the latest by a number of musical acts sponsored by the State Department as part of its American Festival of the Arts, a cultural program designed to promote exchanges between the people of the two countries. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood

Members of FEW Collective, a hip-hop troupe from Chicago, perform during a concert organized by the U.S. embassy in Islamabad November 14, 2011. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood.

Members of FEW Collective, a hip-hop troupe from Chicago, perform during a concert organized by the U.S. embassy in Islamabad November 14, 2011. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood

In this pictures taken on Sept 27, 2011, Members of the New York jazz band, from left, Ari Roland, Zaid Nasser and Chris Byars performed at a concert sponsored by the American embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. Carrots haven't worked with Pakistan. Neither have sticks. Now the U.S. has enlisted the power of jazz music to improve relations with Pakistanis at time when the important alliance between the two countries has hit rock bottom. (AP Photo/B.K.Bangash)