You might have heard them open for Lupe Fiasco last year at Spring Party Weekend, and again for Brother Ali on September 9. You might have seen the music video on YouTube for their catchy song “Hit the Floor.” You may not have heard of them at all, but you certainly will in the months to come. Fourte, a rap group comprised of four Colgate students, is quickly gaining lots of fans and just as much recognition on campus.

The group began with seniors Garrington Spence, Ty Henry and Uzi Idah, who all met on the football team. A mutual friend introduced them to senior Collin McLoughlin, and the four began recording music for fun. The group admitted to fooling around in the studio and were surprised by their own talent.

“I always liked music, but I didn’t know I could actually do it,” Henry said.

It wasn’t until their first performance last spring that Fourte officially came to be.

“We weren’t an official band until Battle of the Bands,” McLoughlin said.

Fourte took the prize, and since then, these musicians have performed at various concerts and have recorded their own original music in their studio, which they nickname the “Bat Cave.”

All the members agree that it’s hard to categorize Fourte’s music.

“It’s a combination of hip hop with aspects of pop, R&B and even rock,” Spence said.

The members all come from different parts of the country, and therefore bring different musical influences to the table.

“I was always into music, like as an acoustic singer and songwriter. I was never involved in this type of music,” McLoughlin said.

Most of their music can be found on the group’s Myspace page.

“The hard thing is there’s really no way for people to listen to our music. Not everyone realizes that you don’t need a Myspace to listen to the music on it,” McLoughlin said.

To solve this problem, Fourte is currently working on their first mixed tape, which is due shortly in late October.

“The mixed tape is gonna be 12 or 13 songs that we’ll put on our website for people to download for free,” McLoughlin said.

Fourte is also trying to book more shows later in the year and to promote itself beyond solely Colgate’s campus. There is talk of a spring college tour, where the group will visit other colleges and perform. Because of busy schedules, however, it is difficult for the guys to get together and really concentrate on the band.

“Our biggest challenge is getting everyone together in the studio at the same time. We all have different schedules with classes and football,” Henry said.

In the mean time, Fourte plans on rehearsing to improve their actual performances.

“I’m still trying to get used to being on stage. We need to work on our stage presence. We’re still rookies,” Idah admitted.

Fourte has certainly left an impact on Colgate’s entertainment scene, and plans to continue its run in the future as well.

“Hopefully we’ll live close together after Colgate so we can keep writing,” McLoughlin said.

The members will all graduate this spring, but there is no doubt that they will not be forgotten at Colgate.