While they play around with the infectious grooves of reggae and Latin music as well as the heavy deliverance of hip-hop and rock, San Diego's hard rock four-piece P.O.D. has defined a universal message. They're born-again Christians and their faith takes a central place in their music.

Formed in 1992 in the SoCal neighborhood of San Ysidro, Marcos (guitar) and Wuv (drums) relished the music they grew up on. San Ysidro or "Southtown" was a multicultural area, but working class. While Marcos and Wuv were fond of their jazz and reggae roots, they were young punks in the making. Both loved the gnarl of grunge and took to liking Green Day, Pennywise, Bad Brains, and the Vandals. They got a band together, P.O.D. (short for "Payable on Death"), with Wuv's hip-hop MC cousin, Sonny, and aimed for something real. Cleveland native Traa joined in 1993 and P.O.D. were on the map.