A heavy bass beat emanating from pieces of recording equipment strewn across the floor vibrated the Sproul Landing dorm room walls Second-year mechanical engineering student Miles Gibson stepped up to the sole microphone stand, inhaling and exhaling loudly to still his nerves, and began to rap to a beat engineered by his friend, second-year ethnomusicology student Nicholas Henry. Read more...

Photo: Miles Gibson (front), a second-year mechanical engineering student, sings into a microphone while Nicholas Henry (back), a second-year ethnomusicology student, records the vocals on his computer. The two created hip-hop and R&B label Landing 8, based on the eighth floor of Sproul Landing, with four other friends. (Tehya Faulk/Daily Bruin)

An unfamiliar and haunting melody snuck up on Chris Pree the same way it always did. He would be walking to class, talking to friends or trying to do his homework when a tune would tangle itself around his thoughts. Read more...

Photo: With the help of his grandmother and church choir, second-year theater student Chris Pree honed his singing and performing skills at his church in Washington, D.C. Pree released his mixtape, “Here&Now,” a compilation of poetry set to R&B tunes composed on his keyboard, on New Year’s Day. (Efren Piñon/Daily Bruin)