Established in 2003 by William 'Malachai' Johns III, The band is named after
mambo sauce or
mumbo sauce, a sought after
condiment found only in
Chinese carry-out restaurants in
Washington, D.C., usually served alongside chicken wings and fries. The band credits "The GoGo Sound" of Mambo Sauce to the influence of bands like
Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers,
Rare Essence,
Backyard Band,
Junkyard Band and
Northeast Groovers which was actually founded by Mambo Sauce bassist
Khari Pratt. The bands inspirations include
Mint Condition,
The Roots,
Bad Brains,
Kanye West and
N.E.R.D. Mambo Sauce also frequently collaborates with
SOJA a rock/reggae band from
Arlington, VA In 2007 Mambo Sauce Released "Miracles" & "Welcome To DC" released on MySpace. In 2007, two of Mambo Sauce's songs, "Miracles", and "Welcome to D.C.", began receiving airplay on Washington, D.C.'s
WPGC-FM radio station, along with other local stations."Welcome to D.C." is also played at
Washington Wizards and
Washington Capitals games. Mambo Sauce often played with
Chuck Brown, who is known as "The Godfather of Go-Go" including opening the
9:30 Club in D.C. and
B.B. King's Blues Club in
New York City's
Times Square. In 2008, "Welcome to D.C." reached the
Billboard hip hop/R&B music charts and video for the same song received airplay on
BET,
MTV and
VH1 . In 2009, Mambo Sauce released their debut studio album entitled "The Recipe". The album includes the hit songs 'Welcome to D.C.', 'Miracles', 'Work' and 'No Sleep'. 'Getaway' and 'Things'll Get Better' featuring
DeAngelo Redman from
MTV's
Making the Band both also received critical praise. Never was this critical acclaim more evident than when
okayplayer.com's review of 'The Recipe' rated the album the highest of 2009 (93 out of 100); in a year that saw record releases from Jay-Z, Beyonce and Eminem. The album is available on
iTunes. In 2011, Mambo Sauce embarked on its first national tour with frequent on stage collaborator
SOJA, at one point playing over 25 cities in 45 days. ==Current members==