Chuck D and John Densmore Launch New Project

Genesis Publications is proud to count both John Densmore and Chuck D among its authors—two artists who have each shaped music history in radically different ways, and who have now come together in an unexpected and powerful collaboration.

Their creative connection began in 2014, when Chuck D, then the official ambassador for Record Store Day, met Doors drummer John Densmore on an RSD panel. A year later, Chuck followed up with a simple idea: “You’ve got the beats, I’ve got the rhymes, let’s make doPE.”

The name fused The Doors’ iconic lowercase logo with Public Enemy’s familiar PE—and planted the seed for a project that has now come to life. Under the name doPE, Densmore and Chuck D have created a full album together, no country for old men, released for Record Store Day on April 18. Its lead track, 'every tick tick tick,' has since been named Record Store Day’s 2026 Song of the Year.

At the heart of the collaboration is a shared sense of legacy and forward motion. Densmore summed it up in a message to Chuck during the early stages: 'Everybody gets older, but not everybody gets elder.' Chuck D has spoken about Densmore’s contribution as something deeper than rhythm—'history talking,' bringing decades of cultural insight into dialogue with the present.

That same perspective runs through their work with Genesis. Signed copies of John Densmore’s Night Divides the Day, and Chuck D’s Livin' Loud are both currently available from our website. Two landmark editions that also connect generations, ideas, and the enduring power of music.