Ozomatli Represents America To Concert-Goers In the Arab World, Leaves Them Confused

For years we’ve listened to category-defying band Ozomatli without ever thinking about its leftist, activist side. And then that side bit us in the ass today–ironically, in an article on how these musically-inclined Angelenos have been bankrolled for months now by the totally hip U.S. State Department to tour throughout the Arab World, spreading the idea that Americans live in the kind of harmony provided by a nine piece band resembling the U.N. Their latest stop was Cairo two nights ago, where the story’s reporter summed up apprehensions the band had when it was first approached by bureaucrats to play for Uncle Sam:

Didn’t they know that the two-time Grammy-winning band was born at a labor rights demonstration 12 years ago, that it regularly played at antiwar rallies and that its members were outspoken critics of the Bush administration’s policies on everything from the war on terror to immigration?

Hell, we didn’t even know all that. But don’t count us out of the loop just yet: we declare that Chali 2na was the best MC that Ozomatli ever had! (He took his name from a mascot for tuna, for Chrissakes.) It’s a damn shame the dude ever left.

U.S. State Dept. drafts Ozomatli for tour [L.A. Times]
Image [Jennifer S. Altman / L.A. Times]