Courtney Randall dreamed about singing at Spring Sing before she’d even been accepted to UCLA. In 2011, her dream came true.
Randall, a first-year at the time, took home the award for best overall entry and the honor of best solo artist the following year. Her 2014 performance will bring together two styles of music as she performs a duet with beatboxer and third-year mechanical engineering student Moonsoo Jo, who performs under the stage name Beat Rhino.
Now a fourth-year psychology student, Randall said she first met Beat Rhino through Kerckhoff Coffee House performances in fall 2013. At their first jam session at Drake Stadium, the two were so impressed with their chemistry that they decided to continue jamming and eventually got the idea to audition for Spring Sing 2014.
“It was an honor for me to get this opportunity to play with (Randall),” Jo said. “I already knew who she was … and for her to ask me to perform with her as a duet was amazing.”
Randall said she believes that their sound is new, fresh and unlike other Spring Sing performances.
“There are a lot of a cappella groups who perform at Spring Sing, but the beatboxing is always in the background,” Randall said. “We’re both the lead in our performance, and we’re excited to put the beatboxing in focus right next to my singing.”
Having started out singing at family gatherings on a karaoke machine, Randall went on to sing in talent competitions throughout middle and high school. She said this gave her the foundation upon which her breakout performance at Spring Sing 2011 was built.
Now, at the end of her time at UCLA, Randall will perform at Spring Sing once more. The event culminates with the release of her EP the week after.
“My performance in 2011 really gave me the confidence to pursue music. I felt comfortable and knew that (making music) was what I wanted to do. It was a definitive moment in my career,” Randall said. “With the release of my EP coming a week after my senior Spring Sing, it seems like I’ve come full circle.”
This performance marks Jo’s first at Spring Sing, although he has competed in many competitions around the world. His travels have taken him from New York – for the American Beatboxing Championships, which he won in 2013 – to Switzerland – for the Grand Beatbox Battle, in which he won the wild-card category.
Ashton Moura, the duo’s stage crew liaison at Spring Sing and a graduate student in music, said he believes that the pair has put together an exciting package.
“It’s interesting because they’ve created a unique mix of two distinct genres, but the sounds are instantly catchy,” Moura said. “There are definitely songs that you’ll be whistling on your way back home.”