Little Syria with Omar Offendum, Ronnie Malley and Thanks Joey

3 Performances Fri, Nov 3 - Sat, Nov 4, 2023

UCLA @ The Nimoy 1262 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024

“By interweaving different narrative and musical techniques, Offendum shines a light on a historic Syrian neighborhood in Manhattan, New York and creates a space for communal healing.” — The University of North Carolina Press

Set in the Lower Manhattan neighborhood once known as Little Syria (1880~1940), this genre-bridging performance — spanning Hip-Hop, Arabic instrumentation, and ḥakawātī oral storytelling traditions — reimagines early 20th-century life in the heart of Arab-America. Just south of the current World Trade Center, this once vibrant cultural hub for New York’s Middle Eastern immigrants was home to artists and intellectuals, With live instrumentation by Ronnie Malley on the Oud and Piano and beats by Thanks Joey, this creative retelling of a tragically underrepresented history draws an audience attuned to stories of immigration, xenophobia, and the elusive “American dream.” 

Omar Offendum

Omar Offendum is a Syrian-American rapper/spoken word artist. Known for his unique blend of hip-hop and Arabic poetry, he's been featured on prominent world news outlets (Aljazeera, BBC, PBS, LA Times), lectured at a number of prestigious academic institutions (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Northwestern, UT-Austin, UCLA, SOAS, American University of Beirut), collaborated with major museums and cultural organizations (LACMA / Penn Museum / Ithra / Shangri-La / Arab-American National Museum), and helped raise millions of dollars for various humanitarian relief groups (Islamic Relief, Karam Foundation, Syrian-American Medical Society). Offendum was recently named a Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow, an Arab America Foundation "40 Under 40" award recipient, and a member of both the Pillars Fund cohort for Muslim Narrative Change and the RaceForward Butterfly Lab cohort for Immigrant Narrative Strategy. He currently resides in the great state of New York with his wife and two little children, while daydreaming about the jasmine tree-lined streets of Damascus.

Ronnie Malley

Ronnie Malley is a Palestinian-American multi-instrumentalist musician, composer, sound designer, producer, actor, playwright, educator, and executive director of Intercultural Music Production. With a focus on various musical styles from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and medieval Spain, Ronnie has performed with several artists including Allos Musica, Apollo's Fire, Diwan al-Han, EMME, Huzam, Lamajamal, Mucca Pazza, Newberry Consort, Picosa, Omar Offendum, Surabhi Ensemble, University of Chicago Middle East Music Ensemble, and Yves Francois & Rocambu Jazz. Ronnie has worked on award-winning theatrical plays, films, and TV series including The Band's Visit (Broadway, Tony Awards, Grammy Awards), Mo (Netflix), The Jungle Book (Disney, Goodman Theatre), and The New Mother (Eleva Singleton). He has recorded on over twenty albums and has co-produced several works and staged productions including Little Syria, Karim Nagi's Huzam, The Reminders, Yves Francois, and The Andalusian Trail. Ronnie was recipient of the 2023 Chamber Music America Michael Jaffee Visionary Award. He holds a BA in Global Music Studies from DePaul University and is currently pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Chicago.

Thanks Joey

Born in Brooklyn, New York to Syrian immigrants & having a classical Arabic musician as a grandfather already set the palette for what Thanks Joey would be exposed to - Fairouz, Om Kalthoum, Abdel-Halim Hafez with a little bit of Jay Z, BIGGIE SMALLS, Nas etc. Thanks Joey met his long time collaborator/artist/friend, NIKO IS at 13 years old in Orlando, Florida and the two immediately began creating music together. In 2009 Joey established the Colours Of The Culture label on which the 2015 NIKO IS' album “BRUTUS” was released in collaboration with Talib Kweli's label, Javotti Media. In 2018, Joey released his first instrumental album inspired by the works of Khalil Gibran entitled “On Beats.” He also produced the 2018 NIKO IS album “UNIKO” which was also released in collaboration with Talib Kweli and featured artists from around the world including Curren$y, Tego Calderón, HAIKAISS, and more. He is currently working on multiple projects set to be released on Colours Of The Culture in the near future.