Codefendants, the punk trio consisting of Sam King (Get Dead), Julio “Ceschi” Ramos, and NOFX mastermind and producer Fat Mike, have announced their forthcoming studio album “LIFERS,” set for release April 3. The trio teamed up with hip hop legend The D.O.C. on their new single “Rivals,” out now. The D.O.C. is known for his frequent collaborations and songwriting for N.W.A, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre,
with credits on Dre’s first album The Chronic. “Rivals” marks the second collaboration between Codefendants and The D.O.C., following their 2023 single “Fast Ones” off of the debut album, THIS IS CRIMEWAVE. Now, back behind the mic once again, D.O.C
brings the heat on the opening verse of “Rivals.”
Fans watch the video for “Rivals” below and pre- order the new Codefendants album “LIFERS” here.
“I was hanging with DOC and he was telling me stories of gang life in Compton. I told
him that there were punk gangs too. He didn’t believe me. Then I told him about FFF
and LADS and Suicidals…. Then he wrote his verses to ‘Rivals.’ It’s pretty fucking
awesome that the fuckin’ DOC and I got to work on another song together. – Fat Mike
“Being a Codefendant is one of the best parts of making music today. They don’t give a
shit what my voice sounds like as long as it’s on beat.” – The D.O.C.“Our second track with the legendary DOC stems from conversations about how Punk
and Hip Hop are overlapping counter-cultural movements that came out of a similar time
period with similar ideals. The DOC even directly mentions the correlations & similarities
in his verse while Sam & I mostly talking shit about rappers & punk / tastemaker
snobbery. Since we started Codefendants we’ve been confronted by gatekeepers not
understanding that we genuinely grew up in both of these worlds of Punk & Hip Hop.
When Fat Mike wrote the music for this track he was directly inspired by some of the
slower, sludgier punk tracks of the early 80s.” – Julio ‘Ceschi’ Ramos
Codefendants are a genre-smashing punk collective blending alternative, hip hop and rock to create a sound they call Crimewave. Formed by Fat Mike (NOFX), Julio ‘Ceschi’ Ramos and Sam King (Get Dead), the band fuses raw punk aggression with sharp lyricism, dark humor, and street-level honesty. The Codefendants—three dangerous bastards with criminal records and musical ambitions—landed like a Molotov cocktail through the window of an industry built on lip-syncers and safe bets.
Meet your suspects: Sam King, a punk-rock lifer with ink-stained fists and scars from a thousand wrong turns, and Julio “Ceschi” Ramos, a poet, ex-con, and underground hip-hop ghost who once sold weed to pay rent in a world that charged interest on dreams. Both born of Bay Area chaos, they met in the hallowed, graffitied walls of 924 Gilman St.—a punk rock church with no pews and plenty of sinners.
Both had extensive rap sheets—felonies, court dates, and enough bad decisions to fill a Netflix docuseries. Fat Mike, by comparison, once spent 24 hours in Disneyland jail for causing a scene—hardly hardened, but criminal enough for punk rock credentials. It was a match made in legal hell, but the chemistry was undeniable.
In 2023 the trio recorded their first album, This Is Crime Wave, at Baz The Frenchman’s studio in Echo Park. The first single was “Fast Ones,” a bullet of a song featuring The D.O.C., Death Row royalty back from the crypt, lending his voice to the chaos for the first time in two decades. Codefendants took the chaos on the road, from the punk-soaked shores of Punk Rock Holiday and Bay Fest in Europe to the sunbaked concrete of Rhymefest in Los Angeles, where they shared the stage with legends like Xzibit, Dilated Peoples, and DJ Quik, to supporting NOFX on their recent farewell tour. 2026 will be a monstrous year for the punk trio as they gear up to release their sophomore studio album, LIFERS, on April 3rd and continue to tour around the world.
February 13 – Cooly Hotel – Coolangatta Qld, Australia
February 14 – Morts Brewing Co. – Nambour, Australia
February 15 – The Brightside Brisbane – Fortitude Valley, Australia
February 19 – Café Gummo – Thornbury, Australia
February 20 – The Hotel Metro – Adelaide, Australia
February 21 – The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar – Melbourne, Australia
April 18 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO *with Sublime
May 9 – Sublime Me Gusta Festival – Fort Worth, TX
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