Chris Dunston used what he learned in the University’s MBA program to launch his music business.

By: Kevin Castro

Dunston’s introduction to music production began in San Antonio while attending church to help him
cope with the passing of his best friend. It was there that Dunston met Curtis Jones, the keyboard player
for the church’s band. Inspired, Dunston, who was still in high school, began purchasing equipment,
including a Yamaha keyboard, so he could make his own music.

With the help of some music production tools purchased for him by his grandmother, he crafted his first
song: “Jesus Loves You.”

“It wasn’t very good but at that age your friends love it, y’know, so I stayed with it and got better,” he
said.

After high school, while attending the University of Texas, Dunston connected with record producer
Kevin Montgomery, who helped him further develop his production work. Hungry to learn more,
Dunston continued to network and eventually met Brandon Bishop, a record producer who had some
success on the radio. Bishop saw the talent and vision in Dunston and decided to take a chance on him.
Bishop and Dunston worked on several projects together and still collaborate to this day.

Finally, in 2005, Dunston started his own music production business, Big Chrizzle Production. He soon
began working on various projects with different labels, including Rap Records.

“From there, I met other people who asked me to be on their projects and things just kind of fell into
place,” he said.

Dunston worked on a project called “Dub Jam,” an anthem for the Golden State Warriors playoff run.
His work also garnered attention from big-time networks like MTV, VH1 and BET. He worked on reality
shows including “Pimp My Ride,” “Sweet 16,” and “The Real World” by producing background musical
ques.

“I still get royalties on some of that to this day,” Dunston said.

Despite Dunston’s success as a musical producer, he was still splitting time between his business and his
day job as a financial analyst at USAA. With dreams of taking Big Chrizzle Production full-time, Dunston
saw an opportunity through A&M-San Antonio’s MBA program and enrolled in the fall of 2018.
“When I originally came to A&M-San Antonio, I saw they had a program that taught marketing and I
wanted to be a part of that,” he said.

In the MBA program, Dunston learned about the different aspects of business and marketing and how
he could apply them to his production company.

“It’s like they say, man, great songs aren’t made; they’re marketed. The things I learned really tightened
up my understanding of my business,” Dunston said. “It gave me more structure and discipline.”

During his time in the MBA program, Dunston developed a relationship with Dr. Arne Baruca, a
marketing professor at A&M-San Antonio. Dunston’s relationship with Dr. Baruca led to the two
collaborating over the summer of 2023 to create a marketing project for the 2nd cohort of the 11-month
MBA Program at A&M-San Antonio.

“It’s great when your students come back. It basically shows me the impact the class had on them,”
Baruca said. “Chris was always a very humble and curious student. I’m glad he was able to use what he
learned.”

After graduating in 2020, Dunston applied what he learned in the classroom to his business. Big
Chrizzle Production was rebranded Blue Mamba Entertainment, a nod to his favorite color and his
Kobe Bryants’ Mamba mentality.

Finally, in 2023, Dunston made Blue Mamba Entertainment his full-time job.

“Before the MBA program my understanding of business was basic, but after my education, I knew
what I needed to structure my business and move it forward,” he said. “When you have a family you
have to be smart about how you keep the ship going. I felt ready to do it. It’s the greatest feeling in
the world being your own boss. I love it.”