Brown senior Dolapo Akinkugbe, known as DAP the Contract, selected to record at studio that was the musical home of the Beatles.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Abbey Road Studios in London is one of the iconic sites in the pop music world, best known as the Beatles' recording studio.

For two days in September, it served as a musical home for Brown University senior Dolapo Akinkugbe, who uses the stage name DAP the Contract. DAP was one of 84 musicians or bands selected by Converse Rubber Tracks, the sneaker company, from 9,000 applicants to record for free at one of 12 famous recording studios around the world, which Converse has dubbed the "global studio takeover."

DAP's mentor at Abbey Road was producer/musician Mark Ronson, who teamed with Bruno Mars for "Uptown Funk" and produced parts of Amy Winehouse's classic "Back to Black" album.

As part of its promotion, Converse is releasing four documentaries this month, each focusing on a different musician. DAP is featured in one called "The Undergraduate," out Wednesday on Noisey.com.

DAP, 22, is a rapper/singer/composer with an intriguing résumé. Born in Nigeria to a musically-inclined family, he's studied classical piano since he was 4, although he said he doesn't listen to much classical music these days. He started attending boarding school in England when he was 11.

At Brown, he's majoring in the classics — Latin and Greek — with a minor in music. In a phone interview, DAP explained that the classics were his favorite subject in high school, along with math. And, believe it or not, there is a relationship between the ancient languages and his music.

"My favorite aspects are the poetry, especially the rhythms," he said.

Growing up, he said, his family listened to the likes of Motown, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Only the biggest rap radio hits, by people such as 50 Cent, Eminem and Nelly, found their way to Nigeria.

But in London, DAP said, all his friends were into rapping, and so was he.

In 2012, before he went to Brown, DAP spent about eight months at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

He said he's very happy at Brown: "It ended up to be the perfect place for me to be," he said. "I love Brown. I used to be a very shy and awkward kid. Something happened when I hit 19 and came to the U.S. I completely became myself. I could talk to anyone about anything."

DAP said he's picked up a lot of musical influences over the years — soul, hip-hop, jazz (from Berklee) and the African music of his homeland. "When I went home for Christmas [in 2015] I completely fell in love with Nigerian music," he said.

He said Ronson told him it's important for a musician to be multifaceted.

"The pool of rappers is overpopulated," DAP said. "The people who can overcome that are the people who can bring in more tools, like singing and playing the piano. You want to create a new sound, something no one else can do."

DAP said his manager had told him about the Converse opportunity, so he applied online.

"I wondered, 'Am I going to be too nervous, will I be able to play?' " he said. "But I realized once I got there that I was completely ready, very comfortable, very focused."

Working with Ronson, he said, was a pleasure: "Mark was so cool."

They recorded three songs, including one with a '70s Afrobeat groove.

DAP said he loved the Abbey Road studio.

"It's the most perfect room I've been to in my life. The acoustics are amazing," he said. "My dad grew up on the Beatles. . .

"I just liked to stand in the middle of the room and listen to it breathe."

asmith@providencejournal.com

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This story was updated on Wednesday, March 2, at 10:07 a.m.