Credit: Found On Internet

“The best record that Public Enemy has ever recorded has yet to be recorded.

The best of what Chuck D has to say has not yet been said.”

Thus speaks the prophet Flavor Flav, founding member of Public Enemy, the comic sidekick to Chuck D’s serious straight man, and the original hypeman.

Swaggering in a bright crimson suit with a trademark clock swinging from his neck, Flavor was having one of his more lucid moments when he made that pronouncement at the American Film Institute Festival in Los Angeles.

Chuck D, Flavor and the Public Enemy posse had gathered in the heart of Hollywood for the world premiere of the documentary ‘Public Enemy – Welcome To The Terrordome’.

Flavor weaved up the red carpet, grinned through his rows of golden teeth, and cocked his head waiting for my questions. Behind the sunglasses and the fumes on his breath, Flavor slowly narrowed his eyes, remembering he had something important on his mind.

“You never have enough to say when you have another day to look forward to,” drawls Flavor.

“It feels good to still be innovative. Public Enemy always had something to say, and the stories must be told. The message is about reality, the way we lives our lives today.”

What both Flavor Flav and the documentary are intent on making clear is that after more than 20 years at the front line of hip-hop, Public Enemy are stronger than ever - and just as relevant.

In 1986 Public Enemy were fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle under the inspired enthusiasm of Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin.

Chuck D’s thunderous vocals boomed over the idiosyncratic, layered production of The Bomb Squad, Hank and Keith Shocklee, with Terminator X scratching it out on turntables.

Professor Griff slotted in as the Minister of Information alongside SW1 recruits Pop Diesel and James Bomb – and Chuck’s old university friend, Flavor Flav, completed the line-up as the group’s “superstar”.

From their debut album ‘Yo Bum Rush The Show’ in 1987, Public Enemy confidently strode forward as, not just innovators of an incessant dark hip-hop sound, but also as preachers with tongue-lashing lyrics on politics, human rights, freedoms and injustices.