The CODEFENDANTS (Sam King, Ceschi, Fat Mike) officially release their album "Lifers" (This Is Crime Wave / Regime Music Group / Virgin Music) today, which is now also available in Germany in analog format and can be found in record stores as well as in the mail order sector.
To celebrate, CODEFENDANTS deliver an anti-authoritarian anthem with the street single "RAW" (not featured on the album), which was created from three different perspectives on life outside the systems that claim to define our existence.
They address individual and collective resistance through surreal, apocalyptic imagery, questioning everything from police violence and corporate power to political parties, religious hypocrisy, and the people who benefit from fear and division.
"RAW" takes the perspective of those who have never felt comfortable within prescribed frameworks. Instead of offering simple answers or slogans, the three rappers spit lines inspired by Minor Threat's EP "Out of Step" and Richard Wright's novel "The Outsider" from 1953.
Produced by Canadian beatmaker Factor Chandelier, the track is a captivating banger that demonstrates the deep roots of Codefendants in underground hip-hop and combines it with their furious punk attitude.
The link to RAW is as follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8dckzRt6Ms
This autumn, the band will embark on their first major European tour, making stops in numerous German cities as well as in Vienna to present the new songs live.
Codefendants are a genre-crossing punk collective that blends alternative, hip-hop, and rock to create a sound they call "Crimewave". Founded by Fat Mike (NOFX), Julio "Ceschi" Ramos, and Sam King (Get Dead), the band combines raw punk aggression with pointed lyrics, dark humor, and the honesty of the streets. The Codefendants – three dangerous guys with criminal records and musical ambitions – burst onto an industry based on lip-syncers and safe bets like a Molotov cocktail through a window.
Meet your suspects: Sam King, a die-hard punk rocker with ink-stained fists and scars from a thousand wrong turns, and Julio "Ceschi" Ramos, a poet, ex-convict, and underground hip-hop spirit who once sold grass to pay his rent in a world that demanded interest on dreams. Both emerged from the chaos of the Bay Area and met at the sacred, graffiti-covered walls of 924 Gilman Street – a punk rock church without pews and filled with plenty of sinners.
Both had extensive criminal records – serious offenses, court dates, and enough bad decisions to fill a Netflix documentary series. Fat Mike, on the other hand, once spent 24 hours in Disneyland jail for causing a ruckus – hardly something to be called hard-boiled, but criminal enough for punk rock references. It was a connection forged in legal hell, yet the chemistry between the two was undeniable.
In 2023, the trio recorded their first album, "This Is Crime Wave", at Baz The Frenchman's studio in Echo Park. Codefendants took the chaos on tour with them, sharing the stage with legends like Pennywise, The Descendants, Xzibit, Dilated Peoples, and DJ Quik – from the punk-soaked shores of Punk Rock Holiday and Bay Fest in Europe to the sun-soaked concrete of Rhymefest in Los Angeles, and opening for NOFX on their recent farewell tour.
With "Lifers", they are now following up with no less excitement and will bring their hit-laden repertoire to the following cities starting at the end of October, just recently adding a concert in Munich:
CODEFENDANTS LIVE 2026
23.10.2026 Cologne - Live Music Hall
24.10.2026 Münster - Skater’s Palace
25.10.2026 Hanover - Kulturzentrum Faust
27.10.2026 Hamburg - Knust
28.10.2026 Berlin - SO36
29.10.2026 Frankfurt am Main - Das Bett
31.10.2026 Munich - Hansa 39 (New!)
02.11.2026 AT-Vienna - Arena
