By the time Codefendants announced their sophomore album LIFERS, it became clear that the band was not interested in softening the edges or explaining themselves to anyone still clutching genre rulebooks. Out April 3, LIFERS is produced by Fat Mike from punk juggernaut NOFX, and arrives with single “Rivals,” a snarling new single that brings hip-hop legend The D.O.C. back into the fray for his second collaboration with the trio.
“Rivals” feels less like a crossover experiment than a confrontation. Built on a slower, sludgier punk backbone inspired by early-’80s hardcore, the track thrives on tension—between scenes, between cultures, and between the gatekeepers who still pretend punk and hip-hop don’t share DNA. D.O.C. opens the song with a verse shaped by lived history, grounding the track in Compton reality before Codefendants rip into tastemaker snobbery and scene politics with trademark bile and humor.
The collaboration grew out of conversations, not marketing meetings. As Fat Mike tells it, trading stories with D.O.C. about gang life in Compton led to a realization that punk had its own crews, codes, and conflicts. That shared lineage became the backbone of “Rivals.” D.O.C., for his part, embraces and thrives in the punk chaos. “They don’t give a shit what my voice sounds like as long as it’s on beat,” he says, a line that doubles as a thesis for Codefendants’ entire ethos.
That ethos has been there since day one. Codefendants are Sam King (Get Dead), Julio “Ceschi” Ramos, and Fat Mike—three lifers from different corners of underground music who bonded over mutual distrust of polish and pretense. King brings scarred-knuckle punk ferocity. Ceschi, a poet shaped by incarceration and underground hip-hop, supplies razor-wire lyricism and lived-in perspective. Fat Mike, long punk’s most notorious provocateur, steers the ship with a producer’s ear and a saboteur’s grin.
Their origin story is as messy as the music. King and Ceschi crossed paths in the Bay Area’s crucible of DIY culture, with 924 Gilman Street looming large as both proving ground and spiritual home. Legal trouble, bad decisions, and survival hustles weren’t footnotes—they were the curriculum. When Fat Mike entered the picture, the chemistry snapped into focus. What emerged wasn’t a side project but a fully realized collective that named its sound “Crimewave”: punk aggression colliding with hip-hop cadence, dark humor, and street-level honesty.
That collision first detonated on 2023’s THIS IS CRIMEWAVE, recorded in Echo Park at Baz The Frenchman’s studio. Its breakout moment, “Fast Ones,” also featured The D.O.C., marking his first vocal appearance in decades and setting the tone for Codefendants’ refusal to respect historical boundaries. The band carried that energy onto stages across Europe and the U.S., from Punk Rock Holiday and Bay Fest to Los Angeles’ Rhymefest, sharing bills with West Coast icons like Xzibit, Dilated Peoples, and DJ Quik, and supporting NOFX on their farewell run.
LIFERS picks up where that chaos left off, but sharper, heavier, and more self-aware. It’s an album about permanence—about choosing a life outside the lines and sticking with it even when the cost is high. As Ceschi puts it, punk and hip-hop aren’t opposing forces; they’re parallel movements born in the same era, shaped by the same resistance. LIFERS doesn’t argue the point—it lives it.
With the album dropping April 3 and a global touring slate already locked in, 2026 is shaping up to be Codefendants’ biggest year yet. If “Rivals” is any indication, they’re not here to make peace. They’re here to remind everyone exactly where this music came from—and who it still belongs to.
Watch the “Rivals” official music video:
Codefendants Live:
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
November 15-19 – Sublime Cruise – Sailing From Miami, FL
Codefendants Online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CodefendantsOFFICIAL
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Codefendants_Legal_Fund
