Codefendants are back with a new full length statement of intent. The genre wrecking trio has announced LIFERS, their sophomore album produced by Fat Mike, out April 3. The news arrives alongside “Rivals,” a hard edged new single featuring hip hop icon The D.O.C., marking the second collaboration between the two camps.
“Rivals” leans into tension rather than polish. Built on a slower, heavier punk groove inspired by early 80s hardcore, the track is less about crossover novelty and more about shared lineage. Punk and hip hop grew out of the same resistance, the same need to carve space outside the mainstream, and “Rivals” makes that connection feel lived in rather than theoretical. D.O.C. opens the track with a verse rooted in Compton reality, while Codefendants respond with sharp jabs at scene politics, tastemaker culture, and gatekeeping from both sides.
The collaboration came naturally. Fat Mike recalls swapping stories with D.O.C. about gang life, only to realize punk had its own crews, codes, and conflicts. That overlap became the foundation for the song. D.O.C. summed up the experience simply. “They don’t give a shit what my voice sounds like as long as it’s on beat.”
Codefendants are Sam King of Get Dead, Julio “Ceschi” Ramos, and Fat Mike, three lifers from different corners of underground music who bonded over mutual distrust of genre rules and industry polish. King brings raw punk urgency. Ceschi brings the perspective of an underground hip hop poet shaped by incarceration and survival. Fat Mike ties it together with a producer’s ear and a long standing instinct for disruption.
The group’s origin story runs through the Bay Area, with 924 Gilman Street looming large as both proving ground and spiritual center. Legal trouble, wrong turns, and lived consequences were not side notes but part of the DNA. When Codefendants released their debut album THIS IS CRIMEWAVE in 2023, recorded at Baz The Frenchman’s studio in Echo Park, it landed like a warning shot. Its breakout track “Fast Ones,” also featuring The D.O.C., marked the legend’s first appearance on record in decades.
Since then, Codefendants have taken their Crimewave sound across continents, from European punk festivals to Los Angeles stages shared with West Coast hip hop royalty, and onto the road supporting NOFX on their farewell tour. Every stop reinforced the same point. Punk and hip hop were never enemies. They just grew up in different rooms of the same house.
LIFERS picks up where that chaos left off, louder and more deliberate. It is an album about choosing a path and staying on it, no matter the cost. With the album arriving April 3 and major tour dates already locked in, 2026 is shaping up to be the biggest year yet for Codefendants.
Watch the official video for “Rivals”:
Upcoming Dates:
February 13 – Cooly Hotel – Coolangatta, Australia
February 14 – Morts Brewing Co. – Nambour, Australia
February 15 – The Brightside – Brisbane, 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 to 19 – Sublime Cruise – Sailing from Miami, FL
