Bask or Else: How James "Doogz" McDonald is Creating Opportunity and Inspiring Ingenuity

Creativity has been embedded in the black community since the beginning of time, but a lack of resources and opportunities has kept that inventiveness at bay for the most part. James "Doogz" McDonald is on a mission to change that with his boutique creative agency, Bask or Else, and he's already off to an incredible start.

McDonald always knew he wanted to be involved with community organizing and event curation, which he did as a student at SUNY Brockport, throwing parties and serving as president of various cultural clubs. However, curating events wasn't the only thing that McDonald wanted to do, and he needed to challenge himself as he knew there was strength in the community. Interestingly enough, Ye, the artist formally known as Kanye West, inspired him to do exactly that.

"When Kanye said he was going to make some type of imprint called Donda and it was going to be a creative house to do other stuff, I was obsessed with that idea," McDonald tells BLEU. "I wanted to do more stuff, but I wanted to put it under one roof. As early as 2012 I knew I wanted to have a creative agency, but I didn't have too many examples of how they were formed. I started studying what people in Europe were doing with creative agencies because they had been doing this early on."

It took McDonald some time to establish a creative agency as he earned two degrees in sports management and broadcast journalism and worked in sports marketing for iHeartMedia. The tools and resources he received during that time prepared him to launch Bask or Else in 2017, and the first project was an EP release for an up-and-coming artist named Psychotic.

McDonald and his team designed the event flyer and the event space and booked the venue, host, and DJ. They also decorated the venue and ran a strong promotional campaign to bring over 60 to 70 people to celebrate with Psychotic. Bask was compensated for their services, and that's when McDonald knew this was something he wanted to pursue even further.

The New York native wanting to thrive in this new space falls in line with the Bask or Else mantra. The word bask means to revel in and make the most of something, and McDonald uses the word in every facet of his life, especially regarding his business.

"The idea is if you use that word, you're speaking highly about something and following something positive," says McDonald. "That's a word that in our community we don't really use ever; we barely ever describe ourselves as doing the best. If someone asks, 'How you doing?' we say, 'I'm all right,' or 'I'm okay,' very content. So what I created, I wanted to pursue, and I wanted people to pursue being at the pinnacle of success or happiness."

He continues, "As a business, I wanted people to understand that when you work with us, while we do the work and create what you need, you get to bask in that. It's the idea of taking a word and repurposing it for our community, as well as describing it for what we do. Now, people are more familiar with it because of the company, but people understand the concept of basking—enjoying the greatness of it, enjoying the process of it, looking back, and appreciating wherever you are in your life or career."

The Bask mantra ultimately inspired McDonald and his team to create "Bask or Else." As McDonald proudly explains, there is no other option. The message behind "Bask or Else" is straightforward: you either fully embrace and enjoy what you do, or you don’t.

Keeping that message in mind was important for McDonald as he faced challenges in financial management early in his agency, learning the importance of covering costs and understanding business negotiations. However, through those minor speed bumps, McDonald kept his brain working on various projects that kept his passion alive.

When curating projects, McDonalds utilizes a systematic approach to brainstorming events, drawing from personal experiences and continuous research to adapt to and overcome client needs. He can come up with an idea for an event or project in very little time, and that's what separates his brand from so many other creative agencies.

"My mind just keeps expanding with ideas," says McDonald. "It's kind of like I compare it to a rapper who could just rap about anything. They practice, and then they can just do it without writing it down. I literally have notebooks of event ideas, and most of them I've never done. But I just get these ideas and want to write them down to review and reflect. It became such an exercise for me that I could literally come up with an event idea on the spot."

McDonald's "personal think tank" has no limit, as he's thought of nearly every kind of event. His most ambitious idea was "Bask In," where the brand would host a networking event in each of the five boroughs and various cities across the country.

It started out smoothly but it eventually fizzled out as McDonald explained how planning for each city such as collaborating with nonprofit organizations and more became a bit too much. He figured he could use those resources on something more viable, such as the upcoming "Wingz in the Trap" tour.

Inspired by legendary parties like "Greatest Day Ever," "Pizza Zoo," and "Hennypalooza," Bask or Else's "Wingz in the Trap" is a specially curated event where guests can party and enjoy wings. The idea was born around the time trap music became uber popular, and Atlanta continued its dominance in the culture.

McDonald figured he could marry trap music culture with chicken wings and create a space for people to be their authentic selves. He teamed up with local chefs to create flavors inspired by the biggest names in Hip-Hop, such as "Cardi BBQ" and "Megan Mango the Stallion," and even thought about throwing the delicious meal into styrofoam cups to add to the trap music aesthetic. Celebrities such as A$AP Ferg and Smokepurpp stopped by the event while others, such as Drumma Boy, were booked to perform.

The success of the first few "Wingz in the Trap" events led to McDonald and his team to bring the whole idea on tour this year starting with a show in Atlanta on May 25. The crew will then travel the East Coast and make stops in Washington D.C., New York, and Connecticut before closing up shop in Philadelphia.

"I always strive to create something that is genuinely unique and build it out into a product," says McDonald. "So I wanted to do something like that. Like, parties sometimes could get bland, so I created this idea of eating wings in the trap. Trap music was big. Who doesn't like trap music and who doesn't like chicken wings? Yeah, it's the most simplest thing that you can put together."

He adds, "It was super lit and it grew from there, but I took a break because I was over throwing parties but then I brought it back because I felt like parties became bland again and I felt "Wingz in the Trap" could hit right now so I did one during the pandemic that hit. Then in 2024 I did a 420-inspired one and that hit. Then we had one in July and another one in September and those hit. We just did three in a row, like we back. If I'm bringing it back, I have to go farther than I ever did. So we're bringing it on tour and brands love it and want to sponsor it so it's an actual product."

McDonald is entering a new chapter in his life and career with a brand new tour on the way. After getting fans their fix of chicken wings and trap music, McDonald already has several things lined up for Bask or Else. Life is all about challenges, and as McDonald explains, he's always looking to outdo himself.

As much as it appears that McDonald and the Bask or Else crew have been running the show, they're also in a rebuilding process. McDonald recently shut down a studio the creative agency ran out of in Brooklyn and is looking to revamp the whole idea into an actual storefront. He also has plans to release a "Wingz in the Trap" TV show and cookbook in addition to all the new ideas he has to revamp the whole brand. For anyone looking to bask in their greatness, now is the time to do it.

"The biggest challenge right now is the comeback because I chose to close down the studio we had in Brooklyn and now we have to rebuild it. figuratively and literally. You did it once now can you do it twice. I'm comparing whatever I'm doing to Jay-Z losing those 92 bricks so how am I going to get all that back.This is my 92 bricks now, I don't have a studio, no clients so I'm really rebuilding. From the website, to the team, even how I operate as a businessman. We're evolving."