By Reviving the Voice of a Jordanian Legend, Umniah’s “Darb Al Asateer” Became the Soundtrack of a Nation Overnight

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“Darb Al Asateer” (“The Journey of Legends”), launched by Umniah in celebration of Jordan’s historic qualification to the FIFA World Cup, quickly became more than just another football anthem. For many Jordanians, it became an emotional rallying cry tied to a moment the country has waited decades to witness.

But unlike many World Cup campaigns built around spectacle and celebration alone, Darb Al Asateer takes a different route, one rooted in identity, legacy, and the spirit of the underdog.

Created by Adpro& Group in partnership with Scarab Records, the anthem brings together voices from multiple generations of Jordanian music, blending orchestral production, regional sounds, football chants, and cinematic storytelling into a piece designed to feel unmistakably Jordanian.

At the centre of the project is one of its most talked-about creative decisions: the revival of the voice of the late Miteb Al-Saggar, one of Jordan’s most celebrated folkloric singers.

Using decades of archived recordings, interviews, and musical material, artificial intelligence technology was used to faithfully recreate Al-Saggar’s voice, allowing it to appear alongside a new generation of artists in the anthem.

For the teams behind the project, however, the technology itself was never the point.

Instead, the ambition was to explore how innovation could help preserve culture rather than dilute it.

“Jordan qualifying for the World Cup is a historic moment that was always going to be remembered. The question for us was how Umniah could contribute something meaningful to that memory. We did not want to create a campaign that would be relevant for a few weeks and then disappear. We wanted to create something people would genuinely connect with and continue to love long after this moment has passed. As storytellers, we are always looking for ways to create deeper emotional connections. Darb Al Asateer became our way of telling a story about pride, belonging, and the people who helped shape this moment, while giving Jordanians something they can truly call their own,” says Dina Aldaoud, Chief Marketing Officer at Umniah.

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That sense of responsibility extended deeply into the music production process itself.

Led by Nasir AlBashir and Scarab Records, the production team spent months carefully balancing contemporary sound design with cultural authenticity, ensuring the final output felt modern without losing the emotional texture of Jordanian identity.

“There is a huge responsibility coupled with representing identity at a national level. We knew we wanted to deliver something contemporary but it’s very important not to lose authenticity in the process, as we want every person to feel Jordanian when they interface with the work, and feel represented by it.”

Farah Hourani, Co-Founder at Scarab Records added: “That’s why we take great care to break down what makes things Jordanian, sonically and visually, very early in the process, because it still needs to feel genuine and Jordanian when we put it all together in a new style at the end. We want to present our heritage with the care it deserves, so future generations can look at it and feel proud to say, ‘I come from here.”

Visually, director Farid Malki approached the film less as a football commercial and more as a story about ambition, perseverance, and collective identity. The film deliberately shifts focus away from the sport itself at moments, instead spotlighting emotion, sacrifice, resilience, and the mentality that allowed Jordan to reach this stage in the first place.

According to the creative team at Adpro& Group, that emotional honesty became central to the project’s creative direction.

“There’s a reason people connect emotionally to underdog stories. Jordan has always been a country that pushes forward despite limitations, despite obstacles, despite expectations. We felt that same spirit in the national team’s journey. The role of creativity here wasn’t to dramatise that emotion, but to channel it honestly through music, storytelling, and craft,” said Rami Qaddoumi, Creative Director at Adpro& Group.

The project also lands at a time when AI-generated content has become increasingly common across advertising and entertainment, often raising concerns around authenticity and creative ownership.

For Nicola Sabanegh, Client Servicing Director at Adpro& Group, the difference with Darb Al Asateer was the intent behind the technology. “AI became meaningful only because it served a human story. Without the cultural context, emotional intent, and trust between everyone involved, it would’ve just been another experiment. What made this project special was the collective care behind it.”

While the anthem heavily references Jordan’s past and cultural legacy, the teams behind it insist Darb Al Asateer was never intended to be nostalgic for nostalgia’s sake.

Instead, they describe it as a continuation.

A tribute not only to the legends who paved the road, but to the next generation now carrying that journey forward.

Watch the film here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5s4sfuEKxc&list=RDc5s4sfuEKxc&start_radio=1