"ÉSSO explores the possibilities of fusionist bilingual songwriting to fantastic ends." -Red Bull Radio
 "The group sounds like love, with pulsing, vital rhythms and a knack for putting together warm sounds from funk, hip-hop, tropical Latin music, Afropop, and cumbia in such a way that they raise each other up high." - POPMATTERS 
 "With elements of Latin funk, cumbiaton, salsa and other styles from across Latin America, as well as the impossible-to-ignore blues and house that is such a big part of Chicago’s musical DNA, ESSO Afrojam Funkbeat are here to show us all that the secret to collectivity lies in musical harmony." - Sounds and Colors 
 "ESSO reaches back beyond the Caribbean to Africa and skillfully blends those motherland elements into its rhythmic sancocho. Fela’s Afrobeat can be felt in some songs, but so does the jùjú music of that other giant of Nigerian music, King Sunny Ade, as well as the loping guitars of Ghanaian highlife." -Border Radio 
 "ESSO Afrojam Funkbeat works because the group speaks to something burgeoning in contemporary society. They understand the ways in which we consume music: voraciously, eagerly and indiscriminately. More important, they understand why we do so." -Chicago Tribune 
 "Groove-tastic local band ¡Esso! Afrojam Funkbeat mix up a swirl of global sounds—their massive musical range covers funky Fela Kuti-style Afrobeat, Hendrix-­flavored psych rock, Latin boogaloo, and more." -Chicago Reader