4 P.M. (group)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

4 P.M., also known as The Official 4PM, is an American R&B group from the Baltimore area. It was started in 1991 by brothers Roberto Pena, Jr. and Reney “Ray” Pena with Larry McFarland and Martiz Ware. They began as IV Real, performing at local talent shows. The band chose the name 4 P.M. to stand for “For Positive Music,” promising music with clean lyrics, no violence, and respect for women. They have toured worldwide and remain especially popular in Japan.

The group rose to fame with a cover of Sukiyaki, originally a 1960s pop hit. Their version reached No. 8 on the U.S. charts in early 1995 and went gold. It also did well in Australia and New Zealand. Their debut album, Now’s the Time, came out around this period and reached the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The second single, Sukiyaki, helped the album gain gold status in Canada and Japan and platinum in Australia.

Their second album, A Light in the Dark (1997), didn’t perform as well overall, but included the minor hit “I Gave You Everything.” After a brief break, the group regrouped minus Martiz Ware and started Pena Brothers Productions. In 2000 they released a third album, For Positive Music, on their own 4PM label, blending pop, R&B, hip hop, and Latin sounds. In 2001 they put out Fourth album, Sweet Soul, on the Japanese Pony Canyon label.

In recent years, 4 P.M. has released new material from their independent label. In 2022 they released the single “Some of the Time” and an EP called Some of the Time ReMix’d, featuring remixes by DJ Soulchild, Mr. Mig, and Stereosoulz.