Rating: NNNN
Rich – That’s the word that sticks in my head while listening to Latin Grammy-nominated band Ozomatli’s third offering. Supplanting the strong presence of their former MC Chali 2na is a backbone of international flava drawn from post-9/11 concerns (weird fact: their last full-length album, Embrace The Chaos, was actually released on that fateful day), most evident on the Middle Eastern bounce of the track Believe. Ozomatli is particularly conscious on the self-explanatory (Who Discovered) America?, though Chali 2na’s verses run a close second on Who’s To Blame. And where a social comment isn’t being made, Ozo yields up traditional Latin compositions of a passionate order.
