4cat and 7 leers ago (found 4cat album; 2016)
"4cat and 7 leers ago" Album Cover.
Status: Partially Found
4cat was a Newgrounds user and musician that was active from 2011-2017 before his account was deactivated sometime in 2019. He is most notable for producing songs that openly mocked the Newgrounds Audio Portal moderator "BrokenDeck" for supposedly commenting that he had considered 4cat's music to be "spam" - a term commonly used on the site to describe someone's submitted song as either "trash" or "bad". This supposed "grudge" with BrokenDeck, as well as Newgrounds as a whole, became the inspiration for his songs "All I Do Is Spam (BrokenDiss)", "4cat Is The Best (BrokenDeck Perspective)", "The Conspiracy", "Newgrounds Is Awesome" and "SPAM FOR 4CAT SPAM". [1]
4cat and 7 leers ago
On October 2, 2016, 4cat uploaded a "name your own price" EP titled 4cat and 7 leers ago to his personal Bandcamp page. The album featured six different tracks, some of which were collaborations with other artists and friends of his from Newgrounds (e.g. the track "Hoverhand" features fellow Newgrounds musician and long-time musical collaborator of 4cat's, "Chris Is Lame").
Both the album and 4cat's Newgrounds account would be taken down in 2019, effectively rendering most music that wasn't fully archived (including most of the EP itself) lost to the public. To this day, it is still debated whether or not if 4cat was either simply banned from Newgrounds and subsequently decided to erase all traces of his music from Bandcamp or if he simply took down the pages himself in light of new, more professional career opportunities. [2]
On June 9, 2002, Internet Archive user "ArabombGoesBoom" uploaded a large majority of 4cat's songs (including two of the six tracks featured within the EP) to the site. [3]
Who's That 4cat?: Leads and Theories
"WHErwin" and "Removed Submission"
4cat's song "All I Do Is Spam (BrokenDiss)" had garnered some recent popularity following the release of a fanmade level for the rhythm-based, platforming game Geometry Dash, named "Removed Submission". The level itself was designed by a Youtuber user named "WHErwin", who would go on to record himself playing through the level before its verification and publish it on November 8, 2018. [4]
Since the deactivation of 4cat's various accounts, many new fans of his work would come to believe in the personal theory that WHErwin is, in fact, 4cat. Their reasoning for this conclusion is very vague, ultimately resulting the theory be seen not much more than pure, unverified speculation.
"Ciscohelpme" and the 4cat Channel
On October 31, 2018, Youtube user "bomf" uploaded a now-unlisted reupload of "All I Do Is Spam (BrokenDiss)" that featured both a link to 4cat's Soundcloud page (as will be referenced below, in the third lead) in the description and a pinned comment by "Peeballs17" that both reaffirms the validity of the Soundcloud page and states that 4cat had a Youtube channel branded as "Ciscohelpme". [5]
Directly searching for the channel yields no results, so it may be the case that either the account did exist and was simply deleted around that time, the commenter either simply had the name confused or confused the account for 4cat or that the channel's name was changed to the still inactive 4cat Youtube channel (which was created on October 22, 2016, a full twenty days after the EP's release).
"Hewitt A. / Alexander Hewitt"
Approximately 7 years ago, 4cat had created a personal Soundcloud (presumably separate from both his Newgrounds and Bandcamp) to upload mostly instrumental music that he had produced in his free time. The first song uploaded to the account was "Vibe" (not yet confirmed if it was used as the backing track in the EP track "Just Vibe (Goonsquad On The Rise) ft. Jay") and the latest song uploaded was a remix of Gavin Turek's "On The Line", dubbed "Hewitt Alexander Remix".[6]
The account has been set to private, meaning that any Soundcloud account that is not being followed by this one is unable to privately message the user. Right underneath the account username, however, is the listed location of the user - Los Angeles, CA.
Whether or not if any of this info listed (such as the name "Hewitt Alexander" and the location) is any valid at all is yet to be verified.
Track List [7]
| # | Track Title | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | "Sippin (On My Rossi) ft. Father of Death and Noinim" | Lost |
| 02 | "Doin Tha Most" | Lost |
| 03 | "Pretzels Ain't The Same" | Found |
| 04 | "Just Vibe (Goonsquad On The Rise) ft. Jay" | Lost |
| 05 | "She Thicc" | Found |
| 06 | "Hoverhand ft. Chris Is Lame" | Lost |
Other 4cat Songs
Trivia
It should be noted that 4cat is not to be confused with the research and analysis toolkit "4CAT", though the logo, confusingly enough, is strikingly similar to that of 4cat's.
There is also a Vocloid music channel also named "4cat", which can easily be confused for 4cat.
External Links
- BrokenDeck's article on the Newgrounds Fandom page that references his history with 4cat. Retrieved 3 May '23
- Genius page featuring the lyrics to the still yet to be found "Doin' Tha Most" track. Retrieved 3 May '23
- 4cat's abandoned Soundcloud account. Retrieved 3 May '23
- Chris Is Lame's tweet promoting the EP a few days before its release. Retrieved 4 May '23
- An empty Youtube channel belonging to 4cat. Retrieved 4 May '23
References
- ↑ The archived page of 4cat's "All I Do Is Spam (BrokenDiss)" that shows his original author's comments detailing his supposed frustrations with BrokenDeck's comment. Retrieved 3 May '23
- ↑ A tweet from Veteran Newgrounds Artist/Animator/Moderator/Staff Member "Luis Castanon" most likely confirming that 4cat found better career opportunities. Retrieved 4 May '23
- ↑ All songs by 4cat that have been uploaded to the Internet Archive so far. Retrieved 3 May '23
- ↑ WHErwin's video showcasing his "Removed Submission" Geometry Dash level. Retrieved 4 May '23
- ↑ The unlisted reupload of "All I Do Is Spam (BrokenDiss)" with the comment referencing 4cat's supposed "Ciscohelpme" channel. Retrieved 4 May '23
- ↑ Hewlitta's remix of Gaven Turek's "On The Line". Retrieved 4 May '23
- ↑ WaybackMachine archives of 4cat's bandcamp with the official track listing for the EP. Retrieved 3 May '23