4 PM "For Positive Music"

by Diana Moes VandeHoefIn 1991 two American brothers Roberto Pena Jr. and Reney "Ray" Pena, along with friends Larry McFarland and Martiz Ware, formed an R&B group now known as 4PM (For Positive Music). The foursome, originally called IV Real, sang for local talent shows around the Baltimore, Maryland area before pursuing a recording contract in New York City with Next Plateau Records in 1994. A song from their debut album Now's the Time was listed number eight on Billboard's Hot 100 in February 1995. The same year the single, called Sukiyaki, was rated top 100 of Di-Namix hits. It was not long before 4PM began to tour Canada, the United States and Asia. In 1997 4PM released a second album called A Light in the Dark. The following year Martiz Ware left the group and Next Plateau Records went out of business. The group stopped recording for a couple of years until the Pena brothers and McFarland formed their own production label, Pena Brothers Production. 4 PM's third album, For Positive Music, was released in 2001 under this new label.