That perspective becomes clearest in the group’s ongoing collaboration with The D.O.C., one of the most influential yet often under-credited figures in West Coast rap history.
Before his career was altered by a near-fatal car accident in 1989 that permanently damaged his voice, Tracy Lynn Curry released the platinum-selling No One Can Do It Better and became a central lyrical architect behind N.W.A. and the early solo work of Dr. Dre. As documented by the Los Angeles Times and summarized by AllMusic, the accident effectively ended his career as a traditional recording artist just as it was taking off.
What followed wasn’t disappearance, but adaptation. DOC remained active behind the scenes as a writer and creative force, shaping records without being positioned at the center of them. That context matters when talking about his return to the mic decades later, especially outside hip-hop’s usual pathways.
That return arrived through Codefendants. DOC first appeared with the group on “Fast Ones,” from their 2023 debut album This Is Crime Wave. As reported by Rolling Stone and RapStation, the collaboration came together organically after Fat Mike played DOC early Codefendants material while the two were spending time together during production on a documentary about DOC’s life.
What made it work wasn’t nostalgia. It was freedom. DOC has said the band wasn’t concerned with how his voice sounded, only that it landed on beat. That lack of expectation created space for him to rap publicly again without apology, something he hadn’t been afforded in decades.
“Fast Ones” wasn’t framed as a comeback moment. The track leaned into DOC’s gravel-scarred voice, placing it inside a slower, bass-heavy groove that felt closer to punk’s underground lineage than hip-hop radio convention. Rolling Stone described it as his first new verse in nearly two decades, noting how naturally his voice fit the song’s weight and restraint.
That partnership continues with “Rivals,” Codefendants’ upcoming single featuring The D.O.C. Coverage from New Noise Magazine confirms the release and frames it as a continuation rather than a one-off appearance. The track builds directly on the foundation laid by “Fast Ones,” extending the conversation rather than restarting it.
More than a feature, “Rivals” reads like a shared statement. Punk’s blunt-force honesty, hip-hop’s narrative urgency, and a rhythm-first sensibility shaped by reggae and dub traditions all coexist without explanation or apology. The song doesn’t argue for genre unity. It assumes it.
That assumption is what makes the collaboration feel coherent instead of symbolic. Punk and hip-hop have always shared ground at the level that matters most: distrust of institutions, emphasis on voice over virtuosity, and music as a tool for survival rather than spectacle.
Codefendants aren’t trying to resolve those histories into a single sound. They’re recognizing them. By bringing The D.O.C. into their world not as a legacy figure but as an active collaborator, they’re extending a lineage that never really broke. It just went quiet for a while.
For a culture obsessed with purity and categories, that kind of continuity still feels dangerous. Which is exactly the point.
Sources
- Rolling Stone — “Hear the D.O.C.’s Collab With NOFX’s Fat Mike, First New Verse in 19 Years”
- RapStation — The D.O.C. Appears on Codefendants’ “Fast Ones”
- New Noise Magazine — Codefendants Announce “Rivals” Featuring The D.O.C.
- AllMusic — The D.O.C. Artist Biography
- Los Angeles Times — “The D.O.C. Finds His Own Voice”
- Codefendants Bandcamp — This Is Crime Wave Tracklist