Street Signs

I've never heard of Ozomatli, and I'm pretty sure I'm never heard anything from this album, aside from perhaps their (justifiably) breakout hit "Saturday night". Regardless, I really enjoyed their eclectic mix of world-beat styles with a Latin flair (as well as the occasional Balkan/Middle East sound), and I can see why the "1001 Albums" entry described them as a 21st century Los Lobos (a great description, only marred by the tragedy that this collection doesn't include a single Los Lobos album, or even a more rock-oriented Los Super Seven album). My favorites were probably the opening duo "Believe" and "Love and hope", "(Who discovered) America?", "Ya viene el sol" and the very Los-Lobos-sounding "Cuando canto"; really, the only bumps in the album are probably "Te estoy buscando" and "Nadie te tira", and even those are pretty fun tunes. The "1001 Albums" entry noted they put on great live shows (the video for "Saturday night" gives a pretty good sampling of this), and while I doubt it's quite the same experience in 2026 as it must have been in the early 2000s, I'd definitely listen to more by them.

Love this crazy motley mix. Really well done and makes you wish you'd taken more dancing lessons. Lots of fun.

You went to jazz fest, saw a great local band and bought their CD. You listened to it once and it didn't live up to the live experience. You never listened to it again.This is that cd and it shouldn't be on this list.

Interesting but Not my thing.

Based on the cool cover art, I was looking forward to some interesting electronica, maybe. Then I see the genre tags "World, Funk, Hip-Hop, Latin" and my heart sinks. Well, it actually was better than I was expecting. The Latin and Hip-Hop elements were my least favourite parts and overall the album is an extremely strange mash up of styles, a real melange. But some of the electronic drumming and African-flavoured sounds make me prick up my ears, the same for Chali 2na's surprise (to me) guest appearance. An absolutely bizarre choice for this list (one of many), but anything that makes people give a review of "Wtf" is alright by me. Expand your horizons, you squares.

this was feeling like pretty standard 3 star fare and all of sudden we're starting a revoluccion

Interesting mix of elements of hip hop and rock and African music styles. I'm generally a fan of all of those things but it doesn't quite land for me here. Although it's kind of out there, it somehow still feels a bit commercially focused and soulless to me. I probably just need to spend more time with it to love it.

Not the easiest album to listen to, literally. But got to hear and the Latin vibes make it just different enough to be ok. So it was ok, fun enough while on. Yeah ok. 2 star.

I enjoyed this more and more as the album went along. The Spanish songs balanced out the 2005 type rock songs. It was also good to hear Charlie 2na outside of Jurassic 5.

Cannot find this album on any streaming service :((

분위기는 꽤 좋았는데 특별하게 귀에 들어오는 노래는 없어서 아쉬웠다. The atmosphere was quite nice, but it was a shame that no particular song really stood out.

Sometimes I just need something fun and easy to listen to, and this was perfect for that morning commute today.

Wtf

Ļoti ļoti cool, patika Obama sample un viss sound in general, žēl, ka nav spotify

2 minutes into it, I was already convinced that this is the worst album I ever heard. Then the rapping started.

From the little I could listen to I wasn’t mad impressed. This is going to be the first album I didn’t finish because I’m not investing my time trying to find the rest of it and I’m more annoyed that there were far worse albums I suffered through in their entirety than I am about not being able to listen to more of this which speaks volumes.

This is a crazy album. I really liked Saturday Night, it was pretty fun. (Who Discovered) America? is also a pretty good one, but I thought the lyrics were pretty cringey at some points. I got kind of scared that this band was just a bunch of white people. Looking at the band pictures, holy shit there's a lot of people, but they don't look all white, so that's good I guess.

Liked: Who discovered america Saturday night It was nice to listen to but not something i would listen to again. I was really glad when one of the guys shut up. I liked the hiphop aspect mixed with latin music, but overall not my style. Also im mad its not on spotify, or atleast not in my country. The whole album wasn’t even on youtube. So I have not heard like 3 songs.

I've been aware of the band for quite a while, but this is the first time that I've ever listened to one of their records. Overall, I'm enjoying it. The use of strings throughout this album is a bit unusual in the time period, but I think that it works fairly well and it makes this album somewhat unique. There is obviously a stew of influences here, bringing in elements of salsa and other Latin influences, along with rock and hip hop. I think that it generally works, and its impressive that they can operate within so many genre conventions and shift between them, but there are moments when this doesn't necessarily feel like it has its own identity in that stew. It also loses a little energy in the second half. I suspect that this is a lot of fun live and honestly the record is pretty fun too.

Latin Victim Rock / Rap. Not for me.

Joan Latin Fusion aus LA... Nicht so meins. 2/5

Had some interesting tracks, but ultimately didn't grab me

Better than I expected.

..

Yeah, this kind of past me by. I don't think it's worthy of the list. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ in part Revisit ❌️ ★★☆☆☆(4/10) default Total reviewed : 451 Already owned : 99 Purchased : 25 To buy : 2 Nope : 325

Not sure how I found them, but I’ve been listening to Ozomatli for a long time, almost 20 years, if not more (last.fm history only goes back to 2007). This is my favorite and most listened to album by the band. The rebelliousness, the aggression, but also the joy and influences from around the world, keep bringing me back.

Didn't get the full album listen as it wasn't streamable. Tempted to buy it second hand for a couple of quid to give it a full chance. There was a lot of good elements and nice vibes, and sprinkling a bit of Chali 2na on anything adds to the enjoyment level! I have a feeling that it's deserving of a 4 with a proper go at it.

Believe NB: listend on YT which apears to have an accurate play list

Exotic, fresh, tropical and sensory sound. Has a tribal element. Couldn't find entire album anywhere, found one missing 3 tracks. Favorite track - Who's to blame

It’s an ok album that was way too hard to find and listen to. It was a pop album with latin flare.

It's not a bad album, but it's just kind of long and not groundbreaking in the slightest. Rap rock has better, chicano rock has better, and I'm just sort of unimpressed? The pop production is often very unfitting, resulting in some tracks feeling like "music playing poolside at a Mexican-themed hotel/resort/waterpark." Chali 2na showing up from Jurassic 5 was unexpected and his track was the best.

Kunne kun høre sådan 2 sange, men den sygeste algoritme startede efter de to! Beck på spansk og alt muligt, men svært at reviewe ordentligt. 3 er potentielt for lavt

Det må jeg simpelthen sige, at jeg slet ikke forstår overhovedet. Det er ikke noget, der lige kommer til at blive smidt på igen 2.0

Listens: 2 Standout Tracks: Who's To Blame My interest was twice piqued, first when hearing the transition from rock music to hip-hop mid song on Believe, and second, upon reading that production of the album included Charlie 2na, whose deep voice is instantly recognizable for me (shoutout to Jurassic 5). Ultimately, however, this was not an album that I cared too much for. It went very Latin-heavy on the back half of the album, and I was neither expecting this nor particularly into it today. I have no real objections to the album, its just not for me.

Reminded me of Eurovision way too often.

Unfortunately only one song from this album is available on Spotify, and I dont think I'm going to have time/capacity to listen on YouTube. It's a shame, because it sounds like some fusion music I would have enjoyed

Maybe this sounded more special, 20 years ago? It's pleasant enough, not offensive, but also hard to get super excited about the music. Between a 2 and a 3, for me. Was gonna go with a high 2, but the last few songs are good enough, I think (just barely), to go with a low 3 instead -- with a slight assist from the significance of achieving a decent level of quasi-mainstream success in the U.S. in 2004, while playing Latin musical styles, rhythms, and instruments (and singing in Spanish).

weird dissonance between all the talk about revolution and how it sounds like Disney Channel. Similarly to Arcade Fire, their lyrics about how the world is messed up rub me the wrong way. I don't think music is the best medium for doing that (unless you're Marvin Gaye, who had the good sense to make his songs soulful and sad). Written media are appropriate for describing what's wrong with the world, not party music As for the music itself, it's ok. Lacking in identity, a distinct sound, maybe. A bit too safe, clean. It was fun to have rapping and singing, and a variety of instruments. Between a 2 and a 3

Realmente rarísimo. Completamente desprevenido me tomó. De vuelta lo tuve que escuchar por Youtube, cosa que no me gusta. Igualmente, me sorprendió muchísimo. Ya el hecho que sea en spanglish es excelente y la música así medio asiática-latina por momentos es muy buena. Sorprendido para bien.

the actuala lbum is not on apple music but I listened to their greatest hits and I liked I think they re turkish based on name?

Gave it a few listens. Overall liked it. Got to be in the mood for it.

This was different, initially I was put off a bit about the tracks seeming to jump around in style a lot. The Latin funk rock rap seems to sort of work though. Cool to hear T-Ray and Chali 2na on this.

This was such an interesting mix of cultures and genres. I really enjoyed this

This is the type of music that plays during the credits of a 2000's family comedy movie. Like diegetic music at the family BBQ turns into non-diegetic credit music type shit. Side note, Saturday Night was used in the trailer for Hot tub Time Machine back in 2010, which I guess isn't a family movie... but I rest my case... Side side note, I saw that movie with my dad in theatres when it came out (not a good movie if I do recall), the only thing I remember is some scene where some ladies tee taws where out, and me thinking how awkward this is watching this with my dad as a teenager... Anyways. I was expecting something way different from the title and album name, like some sort of industrial electronic music. But instead got zumba class music... Boomer white dads will throw something like this on when they're trying to get a lil' crazy at happy hour. "I know the BEST latin music, just you guys wait", or "Cmon kids, why are you sitting down! Get up and dance with us!" 3 is generous in my opinion, but this music was still fun at times, and I'd feel like a real curmudgeon giving this anything lower. 5.5/10

This album too my breath away I wasn't sure what to think I didn't know people were combining things like this, Latin, Indian, American combined into something wondrous I'm going to explore more like I will with eels but this is a whole lot more compelling.

Latin-based hip hop, with nothing memorable or striking about it, at all

# Album Name: Street Signs # Artist: Ozomatli # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Man, absolute rubbish. Maybe they needed a latino entry? Says it all when you struggle to find the album anywhere. Youtube saved me....kinda. # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? No

I struggled to find a proper version of this, and what I did find did not move me 😐

I couldn't listen to this one in full (and some of the songs were covers, not the original) so this rating carries with it an asterisk. Despite the annoyance of interrupting YouTube ads this album was broadly fun to listen to and I'd certainly check out more of their stuff.

2/5. This album was not good, but it was at least bad in an interesting way so I was never bored during my listen-through. It tries to throw so much at the wall like rap on tracks like “Saturday Night”, smoother ballads like the closer “Cuando Canto” or some straight Latin on “Santiago” but they really don’t do any of these styles particularly well and it never adds up into a cohesive album. There’s a lot of lyrics that allude to this idea of a political revolution but the music is so edgeless that it doesn’t feel revolutionary. I thought the opener “Believe” had a pretty solid groove at least. Not good, but it was at least an interesting listening experience.

I was only able to listen to one track.

All Streets Signs point to STOP.

Do you like Ozomatli? Their early work was a little too party-boy for my tastes, but when Street Signs came out in '04, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate maturity that really gives the songs a big boost. They've been compared to Santana, but I think Ozomatli have a far more playful, lively sense of musicianship. In '11, Ozomatli released this, Happy Feet Two: The Video Game, the original soundtrack; their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Moose on the Loose," a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the unpredictability of dangerous situations, and the hazards of letting your guard down, it's also a personal statement about the value, towards overcoming obstacles, of persistence itself.

This album needs to make a comeback this year, absolutely genius stuff. Fantastic 2000s pick, every single song is a banger

As a politically uninterested person I felt like an album put out by people who have a far left message and sing about revolution was not going to have much appeal for me. Also many of the songs in a language I only have a crude understanding on should have been strike 2. There is no denying their musicianship however. Not a bad track on the whole album and several standout tracks. Maybe I give out 5 stars too easily when an album surprises me but I listened twice and am sure of my rating.

Tuesday, 22 September, 2026 Great! Eclectic mix of songs. I saw them live at Bonnaroo 2003. Great live performance.

MEH

The 2000's must have been an awfully good time to be an eclectic, politically minded, and world music inspired rock adjacent music outfit. Street Signs ended up being a lot of fun. In an interesting twist, Ozomatli's base sound is effectively a gumbo of Latin music, which they spice up with rock, Hip-Hop, electronica, and more. They keep things kinetic and varied, the mixes are bright, and most importantly, they sound like they are having fun. And I will admit I was a little skeptical of the sound at the front end of this thing, but their incorporation of influence is smooth and aesthetically cool, making something that feels more their own than anyone else's. And the fun factor here ended up going a long way too. I was having a great time by the end. It may not be something I spin while sitting around the house, but Street Signs has a nook carved out somewhere in my life.

Another album/band I've never heard of (though I do remember Saturday Night from Sleeping Dogs), but an absolute banger of an album. A ton of really good songs in here, like Believe, (Who Discovered) America?, Ya Viene el Sol, and the aforementioned Saturday Night. A lot of really funky songs, but in a fun way I enjoyed.

Fun instrumentals just not for me

Album : 27/1089 Songs known going in : 0/10 Cover Art : Nothing too interesting grainy as shit Favourite song : Rating : Notes : well this albums just not available on spotify anymore which is a fun start This was so difficult to try and find and listen to. Some of it does have a bit of a grove to it but I don't know whether its the sheer effort i've had to put into listening but it feels underwhelming

Fijn dat deze mannen vrij activistisch zijn, maar de muziek is in alle eerlijkheid matig en saai. Misschien dat het beter is als je de teksten snapt, maar sorry daar heb ik geen tijd voor

Groot liefhebber van alle muziekstijlen waar hier mee geadverteerd wordt. Maar mijn hemel, wat is dit afgezaagd. Het klinkt als de gemiddelde band op de zaterdagmiddag van zomerterras met teksten die de latere Coldplay-platen doen blozen. Bij vlagen lekker funky, maar daar is alles dan ook wel mee gezegd.

Don’t care for most of it but Cuando Canto is lovely

Missthaufen

YouTube again FFS Anyway not entirely sure how a Darius (early 00s UK reference) sounding English bloke made it into this record but half way through track one there he was white boy rapping! Not my cup of tea and didn’t sound authentic at all. Anyway by the time we got to the last 3 tracks it finally felt like I imagined the album should have felt like right through. Those last 3 tracks sounding authentic and bloody good fun! Best track of those 3 been the very fun sounding ‘Dejame en Paz’ Worst track- ‘believe’ I couldn’t believe the rapper coming in half way through! Poor first half, good ending- middle Of the road 5/10

Ozomatli - Street Signs Did my best to track down as complete a copy as possible in YouTube. Not sure it was worth the effort but maybe white Yorkshireman isn't the best person to judge 🤔 It had cowbell, mentions of Amereeka, lots of percussion, latin rap, scratching and a little bit of flamenco guitar. So all the ingredients to make it what it no doubt has ended up being. Best tracks were the Easyjet ad, and the one where you have to save the King from being eaten by a snake. 5/10

idk

4/10 - A bit too much Ricky Martin vibes which isn't inherently bad but seems a bit try hard

One of the hardest things about making genre-crossing music - especially when the genres are trendy, as salsa and hip-hop especially were around the time of this album - is making the fusion sound and feel natural rather than just like an intellectual exercise. Ozomatli succeed at that in spades here; they never feel like they're trying too hard even though they're clearly serious about this project. Asdru Sierra and co. really *are* that cool, in other words - and talented. To take just two examples, "Saturday Night" feels like something A Tribe Called Quest would've made if they'd stayed together, and I find I like Chali 2na better off the bench than as a starter ("Who's to Blame"). But I think it's "(Who Discovered) America?" that best defines what this band seems to be all about. The comparison of the New World to a beautiful yet treacherous woman would be cliche in different hands; but here, coming from unabashedly multicultural Angelenos, the narrative perspective fractures. The colonizer narrator doesn't seem to be aware that he's a colonizer until it's too late - and yet America herself is far from innocent either. It's as if Sierra is inhabiting all roles simultaneously, unable to reconcile them. And that's the intriguing thing here - the way the music *does* manage to synthesize into something coherent, even as the people making it continue to struggle to define themselves. Salvation lieth on the dancefloor, it seems to say. How American of them.

Había dos temas, malisimos los dos

Highlights: Street Signs, Saturday Night I didn't like this one much, it's relatively late to all the trends it displays and it doesn't realize them in a very intriguing way. It feels like this is a mandatory alternative latino entry because it just doesn't stand out in any other way. The record left me feeling like I listened to a discount Supernatural fused with a bit of hip hop. Unexpected Jurassic 5 collab, but it was a letdown because the beat was ass. I expected more when I saw the cool cover and the genre, but this is the bare minimum. Apparently a few tracks from the record are a popular choice in movie/game soundtracks, so the inclusion of this record on the list might be a case of local LA entertainment industry nepotism.

123

That was surprisingly good. And very diverse, musically. It's full of interesting sounds, uncommon instruments from all around the globe. The first song opens with a vibrant middle eastern vibe, but there's also a lot of latino influence (obviously), African percussions, etc. The rap sections have a great flow too. This isn't something I would personally gravitate towards, but I can't deny the quality of this production.

Latin hip hop for people who don’t really like that type of music, or music on the whole. Bland and sterile.

So ummm no.

Yield, Stop, Crosswalk, Children Crossing, Deaf Child In Area, School Zone, the list seems endless.

Believe is an absolute cracker of a song to kick off this record - it’s vibrant & groovy, with a fantastic hook to grab you by the ears and leave you excited for the rest of the record. What follows is a great collection of funk/hip-hop tracks with global influences. It’s engaging, well produced & ultimately super fun to listen to. At points it may be a bit “poppy” and formulaic, but that doesn’t take away from the vibes. 8/10.

Fun album

This was a fun listen just because it’s different from what I would usually listen to. I remember the track Saturday Night from an old Madden soundtrack!

Could have been cool but the production is off. I don’t like the raps inserted in it.

No thanks

So it’s latin island music with dance beats. It’s fine. The Spotify profile said if La has a soundtrack this would be it. I don’t think so. It’s fine. Great production. Sounded fresh.

I enjoy some of the instrumental stuff but not a big fan of the vocals/rapping. True 2.5 but found myself quite underwhelmed

Half these songs feel like they belong as the background to a rom-com or Scooby Doo 3. Some of the lyrics read like a high school kid smoking pot for the first time and becoming socially conscious for the first time. However there are a couple tunes that were real toe tappers which takes precedent over bad lyrics.

I get why this is on here, I appreciate the quality, but I will probably never listen to this album again

I like this one.

From what little of this album that is available to listen to, I've concluded this is the overnight oats of albums. Everything separately is enjoyable, and the promise of a better final product is exciting, but then you wake up the next day, and you're sort of gagging it down, while trying to convince yourself it was worth the effort and ingredients.

This is the kind of album I feel like I should love, but I don't know. The mishmash of influences seems forced at times in a way that Manu Chao or someone doesn't. It has its moments, but doesn't always feel cohesive. 3/5

Nope

Best Track - "Street Signs"

All over the place. Wasn’t bad per se

Believe - 2.5/5 Love and Hope - 3/5 Street Signs - 3/5 (Who Discovered) America? - 2.5/5 Who's to Blame - 2/5 Te Estoy Buscando - 2.5/5 Saturday Night - 3/5 Dejame En Pez - 2/5 Santiago - 3/5 Ya Viene El Sol - 2.5/5 Dona Isabelle - 2.5/5 Nadie Te Tira - 3/5 Cuando Canto - 2.5/5 I like how they are able to blend the Latin genre with other genres to create some sort of fun fusion album. However there really isn't enough meat on the bones of this thing for me to fully appreciate it. This definitely sounds like they would be playing at some outdoor venue and not thinking twice about who or what is playing. Overall: 2/5 Favorites: Love and Hope

I'd never heard of Ozomatli before today. I read the Wikipedia blurb and was excited to jump into some Latin music this morning. I was initially very into it. Yes, it was very pop and the English lyrics (I'll assume the Spanish ones as well) were very generic, giving platitudes without much behind them. But I was ok with that. After a while, I was much more interested in the Spanish language songs just because I didn't understand the lyrics and I could just enjoy the music itself. Ultimately this was a mixed bag, and I'd give it a 3.5 if I could.

LOVED IT. The grooves. I like that it’s Latin styled and rock. I restarted it after listening. It was that good. I also want to look up their other albums.

Had to listen to this via a YouTube playlist for some reason but was still pretty fun, I always saw ozomatli as some sort of Jurassic 5 spin off which might be wrong but both groups bring positive party vibes and this album is a good example of that

i don't know man... я понимаю чем пытается быть этот альбом и у него это получается. Проблема в том, что мне это совершенно неинтересно, сорян. Смесь латиноамериканской музыки и хипхопа - это почти гарантированный скип от меня. Buena Vista Social Club - круто. Это - нет.

So glad I took the time to find Ozomatli on YouTube (they appear not to be on Spotify). Absolutely loved this. Echoes of Santana but also a unique sound combining all sorts of great genres from salsa to rap to funk. Excellent

I wasn't in the best of moods when I chucked this on and I can safely say it put me in an even worse mood. All the tracks here blended into an upbeat snore fest with an occasional rap verse that had me wanting to turn it off. I'm refraining from giving this a one simply because I know my mood is informing my feelings towards this somewhat but I'm confident in my judgement of this being much closer to bad than good.

Interesting variety. Would listen again 3.