Description

Codefendants – “Art of Protest” (2026)

“Art of Protest” is a 2026 song by Codefendants, the genre-blurring collective built around Sam King, Julio “Ceschi” Ramos, and Fat Mike. The track appears on the group’s second full-length album, LIFERS, and expands the band’s self-described “Crime Wave” style: a mix of punk, hip-hop, folk, electronic music and cinematic storytelling that deliberately avoids conventional genre boundaries. (#HAPPENS)

The song’s title is literal as well as thematic. According to Ceschi Ramos, “Art of Protest” began as a Fat Mike composition for an INDECLINE-focused film project also titled Art of Protest. When Codefendants later developed the song into a music video, they returned to the INDECLINE collective, tying the track directly to the visual language of contemporary protest art and political street culture. (Ongoing History of Protest Songs)

Codefendants

Codefendants formed in the early 2020s from relationships that crossed punk, underground hip-hop and DIY music culture.

The core members are:

Sam King – vocalist of Get Dead
Julio “Ceschi” Ramos – rapper, singer-songwriter and founder of Fake Four Inc.
Fat Mike – longtime bassist and vocalist of NOFX, producer and co-founder of Fat Wreck Chords

Ceschi has described the band’s formation as something that developed naturally rather than from a formal plan. In 2013, while he was incarcerated on a marijuana-related case, members of Sam King’s graffiti crew helped raise money to keep Fake Four alive. Sam later discovered Ceschi’s music through that connection. The two eventually met in person at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley in 2018. In 2021, Ceschi traveled to Los Angeles to collaborate with Get Dead, Sam introduced his work to Fat Mike, and the three began writing together. (#HAPPENS)

Fat Mike later became the project’s official third member, contributing songwriting, production and instrumentation. (#HAPPENS)

“Crime Wave”

Codefendants do not describe themselves simply as a punk band or hip-hop group.

They call their music “Crime Wave.”

The term is intentionally broad. Ceschi has explained that the music may draw from punk, hip-hop, folk or anything else required by the story being told. Sam King has described the group’s sound as punk in spirit, hip-hop in delivery and emotionally closer to a confession than a conventional genre exercise. (#HAPPENS)

That philosophy is central to Codefendants.

Rather than blending styles according to a fixed formula, the group treats genre as interchangeable material. A song can move from rap to acoustic songwriting, distorted punk guitars, electronic production or cinematic orchestration without needing to remain inside one category.

Formation and Early History

The personal history between Sam King and Ceschi predates the band itself.

When Ceschi was imprisoned in 2013, people connected to Sam’s graffiti community helped raise money to support his independent record label. Sam heard Ceschi’s music as a result.

The pair met several years later and eventually began collaborating during the pandemic period.

Sam then played Ceschi’s music for Fat Mike.

Ceschi has recalled that Mike initially had difficulty connecting with some forms of hip-hop, but a performance video helped him understand Ceschi’s mixture of rap and punk. That discovery became one of the key steps toward Codefendants taking shape. (In Spite Magazine)

By 2021, the project had formally developed around the three musicians. (Wikipedia)

This Is Crime Wave

Codefendants released their debut album This Is Crime Wave on March 24, 2023.

The album established the group’s genre-defying identity and included tracks such as:

• “Def Cons”
• “Fast Ones”
• “Abscessed”
• “Suicide by Pigs”
• “Sell Me Youth”
• “Prison Camp”
• “Disaster Scenes”
• “Bad Business”
• “Brutiful”
• “Counting Back From 13”

The record combined punk, rap, alternative music and acoustic songwriting into a deliberately unpredictable format. (Wikipedia)

The group also developed a reputation for collaboration, involving musicians from different parts of the underground music community rather than operating strictly as a closed three-member band.

Collective Rather Than Traditional Band

Although Sam King, Ceschi and Fat Mike form the official core, Codefendants increasingly describe the project as a collective.

Ceschi has said that anything he and Sam create together can fall under the Codefendants umbrella, while Fat Mike remains deeply involved in the writing, recording and production of the major studio albums.

The extended Codefendants circle has included artists such as:

• The D.O.C.
• N8NOFACE
• AWOL One
• Gel Roc
• Factor Chandelier
• members of Zeta

Ceschi has described the project as something capable of being as small as two people or expanding to a group of twenty. (Wasted Attitude)

That flexible membership reflects the same philosophy that guides the music itself: there are few rigid boundaries.

LIFERS

Codefendants followed their debut with the 2026 album LIFERS.

The album is the group’s second full-length record and continues the stylistic foundation established on This Is Crime Wave. AllMusic lists Lifers as a 2026 Codefendants album, with tracks including “Art of Protest,” “The Right Wrong Man,” “Ditch the Party,” “Lifers,” “Rivals,” “Lonely Life” and other material. (AllMusic)

The title reflects one of the band’s recurring concerns: people who continue living outside conventional systems, often carrying the consequences of difficult personal histories, incarceration, addiction, poverty, political conflict or underground culture.

Rather than presenting such subjects abstractly, Codefendants frequently draw directly from lived experience.

“Art of Protest”

“Art of Protest” is one of the defining political tracks from LIFERS.

The song developed from material originally written by Fat Mike for a film associated with the activist art collective INDECLINE.

Ceschi Ramos later explained:

“The song ‘Art of Protest’ was originally a Fat Mike composition for an Indecline-focused movie called Art of Protest…”

When Codefendants decided to create a music video for the song, they again collaborated with INDECLINE, creating a direct connection between the song’s origins and its final visual presentation. (Ongoing History of Protest Songs)

INDECLINE

INDECLINE is an anonymous American activist art collective known for politically confrontational installations, graffiti, sculpture, performance art and direct-action projects.

Its work frequently addresses subjects including:

• incarceration
• policing
• immigration
• inequality
• corporate power
• political authority
• homelessness
• censorship
• civil liberties

The connection between Codefendants and INDECLINE is therefore more than stylistic.

Both use art as a vehicle for direct political confrontation.

Where INDECLINE works through visual art and physical installations, Codefendants approach many of the same themes through music, storytelling and performance.

Music Video

The official “Art of Protest” video was released in 2026.

The project reunited Codefendants with the INDECLINE team and incorporated a combination of punk performance, theatrical imagery and political symbolism. (Ongoing History of Protest Songs)

Ceschi said the production involved numerous friends appearing as extras, including participants who allowed themselves to be physically incorporated into the staged protest imagery.

One of the video’s central visual concepts involves a riot ballerina, combining the elegance of ballet with imagery associated with state force and political unrest.

The contrast mirrors Codefendants’ musical approach: elements that normally appear incompatible are deliberately placed together.

String Quartet

One of the most unusual elements in the “Art of Protest” video and recording is the inclusion of a string ensemble.

Ceschi noted that the string players involved in the project were highly experienced musicians and had apparently previously performed with Aerosmith.

Their appearance adds another stylistic layer to a song already combining punk, hip-hop and cinematic production. (Ongoing History of Protest Songs)

The orchestral element does not soften the track. Instead, it increases its dramatic tension.

Political Themes

“Art of Protest” examines the relationship between art, dissent and political resistance.

The song presents protest not simply as marching or confrontation but as a broader form of creative expression.

That idea closely parallels the history of protest art itself.

Political resistance has long appeared through:

• murals
• graffiti
• posters
• music
• photography
• underground film
• street theater
• performance art
• satire
• punk
• hip-hop

Codefendants position themselves inside that tradition.

The song suggests that art can document resistance, provoke reaction and challenge systems of power in ways conventional political communication often cannot.

Protest Music Tradition

“Art of Protest” also places Codefendants within a much older tradition of politically engaged music.

Punk and hip-hop developed independently but share important cultural characteristics.

Both historically gave marginalized or frustrated communities relatively inexpensive methods of producing and distributing their own work.

Punk emphasized DIY recording, independent venues and direct political confrontation.

Hip-hop developed through turntablism, spoken-word storytelling, sampling and neighborhood culture.

Codefendants deliberately combine those traditions rather than treating them as unrelated genres.

That intersection is particularly visible in “Art of Protest.”

Sam King

Sam King is best known as the vocalist of San Francisco punk band Get Dead.

His contribution to Codefendants brings a rough, immediately recognizable punk vocal delivery.

King also played a major role in connecting Ceschi with Fat Mike and therefore in the formation of Codefendants itself. (#HAPPENS)

Within Codefendants, his role extends beyond singing. He contributes songwriting, visual ideas and the broader DIY attitude surrounding the project.

Ceschi Ramos

Julio “Ceschi” Ramos is a rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and independent-label founder.

His career predates Codefendants by more than two decades and includes numerous solo albums as well as experimental collaborations combining underground hip-hop, folk, punk and alternative music. (Wikipedia)

Ceschi also founded Fake Four Inc., an independent label associated with experimental and underground hip-hop.

His experience with incarceration strongly influenced both his personal history and the themes later explored through Codefendants.

Because he moves between rapping, singing and acoustic songwriting, Ceschi became a natural bridge between Codefendants’ punk and hip-hop identities.

Fat Mike

Fat Mike, born Michael Burkett, is best known as bassist, vocalist and principal songwriter for NOFX.

NOFX became one of the defining independent punk bands of the 1990s and 2000s, while Fat Mike also co-founded Fat Wreck Chords, one of the most influential independent punk labels of the era. (Wikipedia)

Within Codefendants, Fat Mike functions differently from his role in NOFX.

He contributes:

• songwriting
• production
• arrangements
• instrumentation
• conceptual development

While he is officially the third member, he does not regularly participate in every live performance. Sam and Ceschi often operate as the touring center of the project. (Doom Agency)

Live Performances

Codefendants have performed alongside major punk acts including:

• NOFX
• Lagwagon
• Pennywise
• Circle Jerks

The group also appeared during portions of NOFX’s farewell touring period. (Wikipedia)

Live versions of Codefendants can differ substantially from the studio configuration.

Because Fat Mike does not tour consistently with the group, Sam King and Ceschi often lead performances with additional musicians and collaborators.

This reinforces the idea of Codefendants as a flexible artistic collective rather than a traditional fixed lineup.

Genre and Style

Codefendants’ music contains elements of:

Punk rock
Hardcore punk
Hip-hop
Alternative hip-hop
Folk punk
Electronic music
New wave
Spoken word
Alternative rock

The band avoids identifying any one of those categories as definitive.

Instead, Crime Wave functions as an umbrella term.

Ceschi has said that Crime Wave is less about a specific sound than about life experience, energy and philosophy. (That’s Good Enough For Me)

That distinction is important.

Two Codefendants songs can sound radically different while still belonging to the same artistic identity.

DIY Culture

All three principal members have strong connections to independent music culture.

Sam King came through underground punk.

Ceschi spent decades in independent hip-hop and runs Fake Four Inc.

Fat Mike spent most of his career working outside the major-label system through NOFX and Fat Wreck Chords.

That background shapes Codefendants.

The project does not treat punk as a narrowly defined guitar sound. Instead, punk functions as a philosophy of independence, collaboration, dissent and creative freedom.

Social and Political Perspective

Codefendants frequently address subjects including:

• incarceration
• police violence
• addiction
• poverty
• economic inequality
• personal trauma
• political repression
• institutional power
• survival
• friendship
• resistance

The band’s politics are intertwined with personal storytelling.

Rather than separating political commentary from individual experience, Codefendants often treat the two as inseparable.

“Art of Protest” is perhaps one of the clearest expressions of that philosophy.

Significance

Codefendants occupy an unusual position within contemporary punk and alternative music.

The group connects several musical generations.

Fat Mike brings decades of punk history through NOFX and Fat Wreck Chords.

Sam King represents a newer generation of independent punk through Get Dead.

Ceschi brings underground hip-hop, folk, independent-label culture and deeply personal storytelling.

Together they create something that does not fit comfortably inside any of those traditions.

That is intentional.

Codefendants have repeatedly emphasized that genre boundaries are less important than whether a song communicates what it needs to communicate.

“Art of Protest” demonstrates that philosophy especially well: punk, rap, orchestral instrumentation, activist art and cinematic imagery all become parts of the same statement.

Discography

Studio Albums

This Is Crime Wave – 2023

LIFERS – 2026 (AllMusic)

“Art of Protest” – Video Information

Artist: Codefendants
Song: “Art of Protest”
Album: LIFERS
Year: 2026
Core members: Sam King, Julio “Ceschi” Ramos, Fat Mike
Genre: Crime Wave / punk / hip-hop / alternative
Original concept: Fat Mike composition for an INDECLINE-focused Art of Protest film project
Music-video collaboration: INDECLINE
Notable musical element: String ensemble
Themes: Protest, dissent, political art, social resistance and institutional power (Ongoing History of Protest Songs)

Legacy

“Art of Protest” captures the central idea behind Codefendants better than almost any conventional genre label could.

It is political without functioning merely as a slogan.

It is punk without remaining purely punk.

It uses hip-hop storytelling while incorporating orchestration and cinematic imagery.

And its collaboration with INDECLINE connects music directly with visual protest culture.

For Codefendants, protest is not separate from art—the art itself is the protest.

From the Bohemia AfterDark / BVMTV Vault — documenting punk, hip-hop, independent music, protest culture and artists continuing the tradition of using music as resistance.