Street Signs

Another album not in my copy of the book. There's an awful lot of divergence between different versions and (as I've noted before) a lot of more contemporary releases added and then quickly removed. It's almost like the people who curate this don't know how to evaluate modern music for its lasting impact. Anyway, I had never listened to Ozomatli before, but I knew of them as Cut Chemist's other group. In addition to Cut Chemist, Chali 2na has also collaborated with them, further cementing their connection to Jurassic 5. Ozomatli also share some of Jurassic 5's issues - namely, their lack of depth. They're fine, there's nothing wrong with them, but like a meal lacking much caloric content, you're going to be hungry again in an hour. There's a wiffliness to them, a lack of edge, a lack of bite. It's frustratingly clean and safe and, well, kind of boring. It shouldn't be. It's blending elements of a lot of genres, but it never feels like more than the sum of its parts. Why? How can you combine disparate elements and sound somehow formulaic? Better than Oasis though.

Remember when we forgot for awhile that other countries had instruments too? I'd listen to Chali 2na read the phonebook

A waste of time and space. Clear Latin music influences without doing anything interesting or worthwhile with it. Lyrics are corny and lack any sort of worthwhile message. Every genre influence it brings in does nothing to meaningfully expand on the core ideas, leading to cheap attempts of hip-hop, funk, rock, turntablism, and so forth. This drags on for nearly an hour without improvement. Skip this one.

Excellent - shame the whole album isn't on spotify...

Just because you put a latin twist to mediocre music doesn't make it any better.

Didn't hate this, but it felt like every song was the same, and didn't ever end.

Never heard of this band until now. Not sure why they are not huge radio mega stars. My theory on the fly is the hype machine doesn't know how to market this kind of music unless there is an individual (ie. Bruno Mars) to focus on. Their sound is varied with all kinds of different touchstones; funk, latin pop, rock, alternative maybe even, rap, hip hop and jazz . Everything is performed with a verve and energy that is absolutely infectious. This is not typically my genre but this album will remain on my playlist. Favorite song; Love and Hope. 4 🌟

Proficiently bland, with platitudes earnestly proffered over a mishmash of mild hip hop and orchestral stabs, sometimes like a latin-flavored Bollywood soundtrack without the full commitment to spectacle required. Probably a fixture in the lobby of youth hostels worldwide

hmm, I really thought I was going to enjoy this album. I feel like maybe there was a time when I listened to Ozomatli and liked them. This just feels like a mashup of the least interesting latin music and hip hop. It's upbeat and poppy and boring

Every song in "Street Signs", Ozomatli's third album, is a blast of latin rock, funk and hip hop in your face. An ensamble of great musicians with a great variety of references coming together to create a nuanced and cohesive record that talks about workers rights and imigration in a very interesting way, that keeps you hooked from start to finish. "Believe" and "Santiago" are beautiful songs.

Finally, an album that I’ve never heard of. That’s really great. Lots of different international styles. Mostly Latin, but also some styles from India and Africa.

Wow. What a feast. A feast you can dance to. A feast that makes me want to put down all of this work I have to do, turn my back on the september morning chill, and head to L.A. to swear off winter forever... Each song has *such* a good groove, layering sounds and languages and cultures...I'm constantly being surprised by the inclusion of different instruments as these songs unfurl.... While there are a number of sounds here that have appeared in more popular music and tracks over the years, none of this feels done just for the sake of including a sound. As well, these tunes aren't overproduced. They're expertly mixed but still managed to retain the rawness of live music celebration... This kind of discovery is what participating in this 1001 albums exercise is all about... "The revolution will begin this Saturday night..."

Hadn’t heard of them, but thoroughly enjoyed some of the songs.

Today we have a random rap motives mixed with latin rhythms. It sounds extremely naughties - as early 2000s as possible. I have never heard of this band before, so as with anything that comes from this times, if you haven't listen to it then, there is no chance you will like it now. The songs are okay, they are pretty fun, it's definitely an interesting collaboration between genres, but it's too late for me to really enjoy it. The moment to listen to this album is long gone, even though it sounds like I am in my sixties, and hate new music. Still, I appreciate it, pretty innovative idea.

2.8 - A bland fusion of Latin rock and hip hop that you’d head at a free summer concert in some medium-sized city.

This could be made for bad film soundtracks, specifically for party scenes needing mild spicing up, nothing threatening, or perhaps a remake of “Weekend at Bernie’s”. It’s terrible, but I did enjoy going down a Wikipedia wormhole about the Brat Pack after this prompted me to look up “Weekend at Bernie’s”.

Take the worst parts of multiple musical influences and blend them together. Might be the worst album I've encountered on the list.

This Lin Manuel Miranda ass bullshit. Oh god this might be the worst thing we’ve gotten so far

Totally loved it and all it's eclecticism! It has salsa, jazz, funk, reggae and hip hop.

Cool mix of influences; latin, middle eastern, hip hop, etc

Excellent. Loved the entire album. Listened to it the entire day, and started diving into their other work.

A fun blend of salsa, jazz, rock and hip hop, emerging from an attempt to form a workers' union. The attempt failed but led to a cultural center, where Ozomatli were formed. The music remains conscious of Latino and workers' rights, so also being a celebration of Latin culture in California. Frustratingly, the album isn't streaming and even on YouTube it's pretty spotty (as of this writing). There's also not a lot of information about this particular album anywhere. But there's enough to get an idea of the band and the mark that they made.

7/10 i liked the concept of fusing so many genres. However, it felt a bit shallow overall , like they settled for having unique beats and left it at that.

Loved the album, first song was a banger and the other ones were quite catchy. Didn't expect to have so much fun listening to a Latin Funk Album

After getting over halfway through the list of 1001 albums, this is the first one I didn't manage to play from start to finish. Why? Because I literally couldn't find anywhere to listen to it. Spotify has the first track only. YouTube has it all unavailable. It's not on any other music streaming services I use. I struggled but managed to listen to all of the tracks in different formats, some of them live versions, others from "diverse sources". For "Santiago", the best I could do was find a drum cover, so the track being played in the background with some random person drumming over the top. At times I wasn't even sure I was listening to the correct track, but I persevered to the bitter end. I'm going to give it 3 stars because I'm kind of annoyed about how inaccessible this album was in the UK and it wasn't amazing anyway, kind of a mix of good tracks and bland ones.

Street Signs I think I’ve heard of Ozomatli, but only because they did some stuff with Cut Chemist, but had no real idea of what kind of music they make. Obviously it's a YT listen, which makes it a bit of an annoying experience with ads after every song, and not all the songs are available, so it’s kind of a difficult one to rate. However I did enjoy the general vibe, and mix of Hip Hop, Rock, Salsa, Middle Eastern strings etc. Generally I’m not a fan of Salsa but I like it on here - I think the fact that they stuffed so much from many genres into every song in a clearly joyful way it all kind of works. I’m a bit of a sucker for Middle Eastern strings, so I really enjoyed Believe, It sounds quite 90s rather then mid 200s in its production but it's a fun opener. Who’s To Blame is excellent, love 2na’s appearance and the middle eastern riff on what sounds like a melodica, with the more Indian sounding percussion. Bit of a gem. Saturday Night is good too, the dip dive bit and the trumpet punctuating the rhythm. Ya Viene el Sol is nice too. Props to Beatle Bob. Hard to give it a rating when you can’t really listen properly or fully. What I did hear I liked a lot, an energetic fusion album filled with loads of great bits and influences. I’d definitely listen again, but it’s such a shame it’s not on streaming. I’ll go a high 3. 🚸🚸🚸 Playlist submission: Who’s to Blame

A little bit of this goes a long way.

Full album not on Spotify-use YouTube. Even on YouTube can't find the full album. Saturday Night is good, but album is very hit and miss overall. More miss than hit.

This is just absolutely not my thing.

An interesting blend of genres and influences that doesn't quite stick the landing - some tracks swirl with the perfect mix of Eastern/Latin/Hip-Hop rhythms, but others bite off more than they can chew and fall into a repetitive (and boring) holding pattern.

nope

Not in my edition of the book! 2004. 1 star. Background Latin hip-hop for soulless cocktail parties. Additional point deducted for spending as much time finding the tracks as actually listening to them.

Feels like it was trying to ride on the highs from Santana's Supernatural, but in an unoriginal generic way. Song breakdowns with rap feel forced and inorganic.

Background music in a burger restaurant or something like that. It was fine but repetitive. Definitely didn’t need to listen to it before I die

It’s like the Miami Sound Machine (minus Gloria Estefan) had a baby with Eminem…and that was on the better tracks. I was not a fan. I love world music and I love foreign language music. This was uninspiring to me.

Am I being too cynical here? I’m imagining Robert Dimery going, “Oh no, we forgot that we need a Latin album in the book… what about the album that won the Latin Grammy last year?” In today’s world, where English-speaking artists are releasing high profile Spanish-speaking collaborations with huge Latin artists and dominating charts, where these artists are not just ascendant, but genuinely groundbreaking… should *this* be one of the few Latin albums on the list? For me, 1 stars means no, it should not. 1/5 I did like the Killer Mike sounding guy though. Not saying the music was unpleasant or even un-fun. But it should not be here.

This was my first time hearing Latin alternative music. A genre that is so weird and unnecessary. The face this album won an award shows maybe I don’t know shit about music because I thought the album was bad. It was a mix of so many kings of music and was not great. 3.3/10

I guess this is party music. Hard to get in the party mood while at work on a rainy Wednesday morning. Some of the more hip hop tinged tracks sounded okay, but overall too eclectic for me.

Good guitar, good voices, don't know what they were saying half the time but it was banging. Good rock

5 out of 25

Oh, such an unexpected surprise ! Eclectic and so much quality.

Thank you! A great band I'd not come across before!

Damn, haven't heard it in 20 years, but that's a hell of an album, incredibly beautiful.

I’ve never heard of Ozomatli before. For some reason, based on the name, I was expecting ambient electronica. I have literally no reason I can identify for this assumption, but I was dead wrong. It’s very Spanish feeling - not only because a lot of sang in Spanish, but it has that traditional flamenco-ish feeling. But in addition to this, it also adds a fair amount of funk and hip hop. It’s a crazy fusion that I found to perfectly suit my tastes. I was loving this album from front to back, despite needing to find some dodgy compressed version on YouTube due to it seemingly not being on Apple Music. I enjoyed this a lot.

I LOVED this! Great sound, energy, and happiness. i listened to more of them and similar bands for the rest of the day.

Are you ready for a revolution? It’s time to get hot! What a lovely Friday surprise. This album feels like such a party as it addresses serious topics. So groovy and funky and hip hoppy. This was a lot of fun. I can see why it won a Grammy! Discoveries like this are why I love this project so much.

This album does not completely exist in Digital space, but i loved the songs i was able to find so much so i bought a CD for insanely cheap. This is ricky martin, 2pac, latin folk/rock fusion backed up by the occasional rap(more like hop-hiphop) addition. An absolute banger.

I had a few friends who were Ozomatli diehards and I regret not taking them more seriously back in the day - this rips!

Latin funk & hip hop. And it fucking rules. Favorite track: Dejame En Paz

What a great band to now know about. Excellent Latin, hip hop, soul and funk. I'll be adding this to my regular rotation.

The clave beat and the salsa piano chords get me every time. Oye! Chica! Tirate! Que Tirate!

I remember when they first started and they were sonething diferent and some of my friends didnt knew what to think of it. By this album they were already settled down and well respected everywhere. An amazing meltong pot of cultures they took all and everything from their hoods in LA and made an incredible album with influences from all over the world. In this one they incorporated the middle eastern sound along with salsa, hip-hop, funk, jazz and some other generes simply an amazing feat. Them talking about activisim and social issues probably didnt help them get on the airwaves just like RATM before them but this album is 5 star album no doubt a must listen to album.

I can’t quite believe how much I loved this. It came as a complete surprise to me as I’ve never heard of them and they seem to touch a nerve, in a good way. I had to listen to them a second time just to prove that I wasn’t under some kind of spell or delusion. But a second time on a different day, I still love them. I will be returning to this as it makes me feel happy. I’m not sure it’s quite a five but for the Excitement and novel elements (to me at least), it probably deserves a bit more of a boost.

Ozomatli is an unique mix - it's a band that sounds like all of the influences that make up Los Angeles. There is a Hispanic foundation, with hip hop beats, a funky horn section, and some rapping. This danceable mix has made the band cultural ambassadors through their near-constant, international touring. Street Signs, the group's third, full-length release, was very well received, and won the Latin/Alternative Grammy the year it was released.. These are fun, catchy songs, with layered orchestrations both from the talented members of the band, and from the use of samples and synthesizers. This is an incredible fusion of a range of styles - again, this sounds like the amazing mixture that is Los Angeles.

Are you kidding me! Platinum quality.

Fun and festive with some messages to boot, I loved the whole thing!

Oh my god, this was so good!! From the first beat to the last, I enjoyed it all!!

Great fun. I danced all day.

Having never heard of this group or album I put this on cold and *BAM!* Out of the gate the opening track Believe was a modern, party take on Arab music that set me twirling in my seat! TERRIFIC! Love And Hope, the second track, had more Arabian delights and I thought I knew what I was listening to. Street Signs took things in a very different direction, world music from an entirely different part of the world. What am I listening to?! Turns out Ozomatli is a Latin Funk Rock band who apparently appreciate Arab and North African music - not unlike a certain boy who was known to listen to his mother's belly dance albums from an early age. This is an Arab-North African-Latin-Hip Hop party that I had no idea I - or the world - needed!

really enjoyed it, didnt recognize the name but once i started listening i recognized the voice. 10/10 would listen again

this is a COOL album and one that's absolutely unlike anything we've heard before. members of ozomatli are from latin america, and a lot of the music contains latin elements. interestingly, there's a sitar on the opening track and it gives a south asian feel to the album, even though the sitar is only on the first song. but i stand by that south asian sound isn't as strong as the latin sound but it persists throughout the album. not only that, ozomatli doesn't restrict themselves just to hip hop, and everything about this album is so refreshing. i'm obsessed with these lyrics! i had no idea ozomatli was so passionate about multiple social causes, and it's wonderful to hear such a strong presence in their songs. not only that, the songs are catchy as hell! somehow ozomatli creates such powerful lyrics while making absolute bops. no complaints.

Ah that’s a shame. I loved the debut album by these guys. Awesome mix of Latino funk and positive Hip Hop. I think I first saw them on The O-zone with Jayne Middlemiss and Jamie Theakston… there’s an esoteric UK throw back you weren’t expecting to see today. I can see why this one isn’t rated highly on here, the one track on Spotify does not do it justice and listening on YouTube feels like a real chore these days. I would recommend digging through some of their stuff though. I loved these guys back in the day. 5 stars, partially for the nostalgia.

Absolutely loved these guys! Kind of a cross between Santana, Island music/reggae and rap!

Amazing fusion of Latin music and modern hip hop. I loved this album so much be it is such a cultural crossover and hits on so many levels.

Listening to this had multiple health benefits including a lifting of spirits, and a slight loosening of hip joints. Suffice to say I had never heard of this band before today and I am so glad I know of them now.

high energy album with salsa, rap and rock styles.

Such a broad-hitting release. Love the diversity of sound.

Ooh, I'm digging this. The 1st track gave me Oojami vibes. Spanish lyrics are a plus!! I'm checking out their other stuff

Nadie Te Tira LOVE!

Fuck yeah. I had to assemble this in YouTube and include live versions. This shit rocks though. Might try to pick it up on vinyl at some point. Unexpected greatness.

An album worth a listen. High energy and fun. Makes this project worthwhile to hit these discoveries

Every song a fucking banger

fantastic fusion of LA musicians incorating Indian raga, hip-hop, second line, East LA R&B, funk, and an absolute wedding banger that has been lost in my rotation and is now at the forefront.

This has been one of the biggest surprises and best albums in this list so far. This is awesome stuff.

que divertido!

Oh wow. I was already excited because of the obvious Nahuatl name, and then was really floored with the overall execution on display. Diverse, Rich, and Fun all in a perfect length record.

Viva la música latina

Please feed me more like this. About to start listening to these guys on the reg.

I have a lot of pre-existing affection for Ozomatli, although I'm more familiar with their earlier albums - saw them live a couple of times and they're fantastic - really bring the energy! Fave tracks - "Believe" is a badass opener, "Dejame En Paz" is a jam, and "Ya Viene El Sol" is just totally joyous!

Believe: very indian sounds, kinda fun Love and hope: its got the Latin piano. It's wierd how jazzy this is and how it feels very different from the jazz im used to. This has "livin la vida loca" Ricky Martin energy, but the violins are such an interesting add that works really well. The repaying lyrics at the end feel like they are for singing and not for chanting. Not what im used to haha Street signs: love the bari sax comboed with the bass, makes the bass feel deeper in the back of the brain just doing what it usually does. I just read the Wikipedia cause I just couldn't place this genre of music. Latin Funk makes so much sense, the music makes so much sense now too. Has a slow and punchy tempo and bass for funk combined with the Latin instrument sounds with the trumpet and piano (Who discovered) america?: this is starting to grow on me, just needed to get into the groove. I cant believe I cant think of another band that does this style of music, it feels so unique and similar to Santana to me right now, especially with the guitar solo. This is really good. This sounds like it would be really fun to play as well Who's to blame: the claps make this song along with the bubbly bass. Not usually into rap but this i can really get behind. Probably not on its own but in the middle of this album it just makes sense Te estoy buscando: what a good tango! Kind of peppy but really cements the "stomp stomp clap clap nose in the air" energy. Love the radio voice and the transitions back into reagular singing, one of my favorite vocal features Saturday night: Really interesting take on the styling. It feels experimental but also very rudimentary. Very opposite with the electric guitar and clams kinda feel Defame en paz: ayy ayy ayyyyyy! Now this is some Mexican style music right here, this i can get behind. Love the call and answere between lead and backup singers! Love the twangy piano sounds, love the sax trumpet stuff. This is going my Playlist right here this is good stuff. Santiago: this is just really good at this point Ya viene el sol: this feels super Indian. Really cool stuff. Donna isabelle: very beautiful piano work. Nadie te tira: the previous intro added so much to this song Chandon Canto: a good calm down I wanted to give it 4 stars at the first half, but this music really won me over. 5 stars, especially for the creativity. I've never heard anything quite like this and im really into how unique it feels for me. Very nice

Stellar album, 5 stars

Omg yes

Definitely shows a lot of the roots of Latin music to come, especially the prominence of Spanish rap in music from artists like El Cata and Bad Bunny.

A really interesting blend of cultures and sounds. Anthems for the regular people of LA County. Full of energy, Ozomatli definitely delivered here. Will have to check more of their catalogue out

I always know when the genre on Apple Music isn't in English, that I'm in for a treat. Indeed I was today with this fun and lively album. I appreciated the diversity between the tracks as well as the energy and creativity of each song. Very enjoyable!

Yes please more hindi inspired music! ...correction, hindi music! Woo! How was I so wrong? Well reguardless of the origins, this rocks hard. So danceable, so aware, so activist, just wonderful!

This was amazing from start to finish 5 stars

9/10. A great, unique sounding album. A couple songs got on my nerves, but in general this was great.

This album was a fantastic with themes that could have been written in 2022. Latin fusion sound is very underrated. Favorite track: Dejame En Paz

Excellent album! Only 1 or 2 songs I didn't really care for, the rest were either fine but mostly excellent!

cool

Loved it! great music, hard to find the correct album though.

First time of listening and what a revelation! great Latin/Rock/Hip Hop throughout. Loved "Saturday Night" "Believe" "Love & Hope " and "Who Discovered America" loved the line "Dip, Dive, Socialise Get Ready for Saturday Night..." Good album well worth it place on this list, homage to Carlos of course!

Kind of like santana, hip hop like a little bit.

Amazing

Ozo rocks, instant fan. Love the genre blend Very early 2000’s sometimes sounds like bilingual Black Eyed Peas

Hey, I actually loved this... perfect for my morning workout. I would probably give it a 3.5, but rounding up to 4 as I ended up listening to it twice.

Prior to this challenge I had only head "1234" by Ozomatli. A little surprised it wasn't on this album! Overall the sound was good and the beats were engaging. I liked it.

i really enjoyed this

I saw them open for either Rancid or Offspring at Roseland in ‘98 or ‘99. Fun and unique blend of styles.