Álvaro Díaz dares Latin trap fans to expand their palates in ‘Omakase’
When you first press play on Álvaro Díaz’s “Omakase,” you are immediately transported into the kitchen. A stove flickers on. A knife hits the cutting board. Chants of “¡Sí, chef!” ring out like a dubbed episode of “The Bear.” Then, before the listener can fully settle in, the Puerto Rican rapper and singer fires off bars claiming that Grammys were stolen from him and details his many nights spent sleeping on the floor to his new normal of earning $500,000 per show. It is a boastful, theatrical and deeply specific opener — but after the double whammy of past album releases “Felicilandia” (2021) and “Sayonara” (2024), which helped Díaz ascend well beyond the Puerto Rican trap scene he called home, his swagger feels earned. Across the next 16 tracks, Díaz invites listeners into what he describes as his own kitchen. The title comes from the Japanese tradition of trusting the chef to serve whatever they choose. For Díaz, that idea became the album’s creative language. “I was like, exactly, I want to be the chef,” …
