The D.O.C. will take the stage at the Punk In Drublic Festival in Austin on Saturday (April 22) as part of The Codefendants set. It marks the first time in more than 30 years he’s rapped in front of a giant audience. Speaking to Rock The Bells, the West Coast gangsta rap legend opened up about the impending event.
“I haven’t been on stage rapping in front of a crowd of people of any consequence in more than 30 years,” he said. “So I’m about to do that for the first time. Well, wait a minute. I did get on the stage with Mike a couple of years ago, but I’m talking about rapping, where I’m rapping words and people are listening and probably knowing some of the words and will probably be saying the words. I haven’t done that in 30 years.”
NOFX founder Fat Mike brought The D.O.C. onstage during a show in Dallas in 2021. Overflowing with adrenaline, he ended up singing along to NOFX’s 1995 single “Kill All The White Man” as the crowd cheered him on. While The D.O.C. called it “the best night of my f###### life,” it will likely not compare to what he’ll experience in Austin.
“I’m actually super excited about it,” he added. “I imagine it’s probably gonna be a bag of mixed emotions on that day.”
Whatever the case, The D.O.C. has come a long way since the 1990 car accident that stole his voice. The Codefendants’ single, “Fast Ones,” marked the first verse The D.O.C. has spit on record in more than 15 years. The single is included on the group’s new album, This Is Crime Wave, which arrived last month.
The Get Dead’s Sam King, who’s in the group alongside Ceschi Ramos and Fat Mike, added, “We just did it live two nights in a row in Los Angeles, and we have this instrumental break where Zeta does some instrumental stuff where The D.O.C. is supposed to be, and the crowd is already just spitting his verse over the beat. It’s f###### crazy. People were feeling the show, and they’re going to lose their s### when he shows up.”
Watch the video below.