Long before hip hop became something to fill inbetween the reality programs on MTV it was a dominant youth culture that was about reflecting the reality of the streets rather than the outdated gangster rap model it became. And none did it better than Public Enemy back in the day and while some may say they're message has become one of diluted repetition over the years they came back hard with "Rebirth Of A Nation" produced by hip hop visionary Paris of Guerilla Funk.

Designer Magazine caught up with Paris in early 2005 to discuss what he wanted to acheive by producing Public Enemy and his answer was clear. "What I love about Public Enemy, especially when I first started listening to them around the "Nation Of Millions" album, was the production and that sonic onslaught that it had. There is a way to present that to people nowadays without sounding dated. It just takes time to execute well". You can read more of that interview and his vision for the whole Guerilla funk label here.

Although the band have previously attacked alcohol consumption by the black community on "One Million Bottlebags" the unit put on a career defining show as the Warehouse Project preview show at the former Boddingtons Brewery and Designer Magazine photographer Kirsty Umback was there to capture the guys in action

Alex McCann
Photos: Kirsty Umback www.kirstyumback.com