C BlaQue is the CEO of Tenacious Dawgs Music and was one of the Que’s responsible for helping organize Ben Crump’s extravaganza that gave away hundreds of toys to kids on Dec. 23. Rolling out was in attendance and spoke to him about the toy drive, the current state of music and what he appreciates the most about Ben Crump.
Why did you and your fraternity brothers organize this toy drive?
It’s real simple, man. Growing up how I grew up — disadvantaged circumstances and was able to … always have loving parents and a community and giving back — just meant the world to us because there’s a lot of kids that wouldn’t have an opportunity to have a great Christmas. We wanted to make sure that … our model is always giving back … We wanted to put some smiles on our little Black kids’ faces … and take a little burden off of the parents, too, because we all know it’s hard out here with the economy going on. So we just wanted to make life a little easier and just bring some joy this season.
What is one of your favorite things about Ben Crump?
Authenticity, I think. And he’s not afraid to put his life on the line. He’s a true frontline soldier due to death threats at night, the sad case, the constant despair on the phone. He never wavers on trying to increase the value of Black life and make sure that someone’s out there fighting for justice in these cases and situations that you just wouldn’t hear about unless someone’s beating that drum — and he beats that drum the loudest. So … it’s just a pleasure to work with a person like that, and it just shows you work ethic as well. He’s one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met in my life — and that just rubs off on you to want to do more.
Can you tell us about your social justice company?
So, we have a social justice company that does entertainment. It’s called Tenacious Dogs Music. And right now we’re focusing on everything from podcasts to documentaries. We have a compilation album coming out with a lot of great prominent artists. The whole idea is to take the messaging that Ben Crump has and the ancestors before him that … when it comes to social justice, civil rights — you know, just our history, which isn’t being taught in school anymore — we want to infuse that through those mediums that are more receptive for audiences to receive. They’re banning books; they’re taking Black history out of the schools. Just the state of music and entertainment right now, it’s just leaning too far to one way. I think it’s a little too negative and we’re just trying to bring some balance back where you can bob your head, but you can also learn something and uplift to help your mind. Higher-level consciousness is really what we’re about.
