For more than 40 years, go-go bands in and around the District of Columbia have entertained audiences with catchy covers of musical classics and contemporary hits, all set to go-go’s irresistible percussive beat.
In late 2022, 7070 Sound founder Malachai Johns, well known as a former guitarist for the Northeast Groovers and the mastermind behind the groundbreaking band Mambo Sauce, began releasing a series of “Crank Caviar” singles and videos. The Crank Caviar releases feature ad hoc collections of go-go artists from various bands performing covers of well-known songs such as Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” and Usher’s “U Remind Me,” all produced by Johns.
In the tradition of rotating bands like Snarky Puppy, Scary Pockets, etc, most of the musicians involved with Crank Caviar perform with other artists like Wale, Snoop Dogg, New Kids on the Block, Ari Lennox, Gerald Albright, Raphael Saadiq & Tony Toni, Toné, Kelly Rowland, Masego as well as go – go bands like Rare Essence, Backyard, Northeast Groovers, Black Alley, Sirius Company, DCVybe and more.
Johns describes Crank Caviar as “a rotating cast of the best musicians in the DMV, assembled to perform go-go versions of your favorite songs.” Similar to outfits like Postmodern Jukebox and Scary Pockets, the Crank Caviar musicians create genre-based arrangements of popular songs recorded with state-of-the-art sound quality and engaging videos.