Public Enemy frontman Chuck D has collaborated with a wildly eclectic group of fellow artists over his four-decade career, from members of Rage Against the Machine to Sonic Youth, George Clinton, Janet Jackson, Prince, Meat Loaf and De La Soul, among many others.
But on his upcoming project he teams up for one of his most unexpected collabs to date: a two-hander with legendary Doors drummer John Densmore. The dynamic duo have recorded a song called “Every Tick Tick Tick,” which has been selected as the 2026 Record Store Day song of the year.
The track will appear on the pair’s upcoming debut album under the name doPE, No Country For Old Men, which is due out on April 18 via Org Music. According to a release announcing the project, the LP will blend spoken word with beats and raw social commentary “to bring together generations of rebellion and reflection.”
“John Densmore’s beat isn’t just rhythm, it’s history talking,” said Chuck D in a statement about the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer known for playing on such iconic songs from the Doors as “Riders on the Storm,” “Light My Fire” and “Break On Through (To the Other Side).” “He’s been scoring moments of our culture for decades, and that wisdom hits different when it meets the now. This collaboration is about locking generations together and pushing sound forward.” The upcoming album was recorded specifically for this year’s Record Store Day, with a limited-edition, oxblood docs transparent high-melt vinyl album due in stores on April 18 in a deluxe gatefold package with original illustrations by the rapper.
“It’s been an honor working with Chuck D. on this project. He’s got the rhymes & I’ve got the beats…& we made doPE!,” Densmore added.
According to the release, doPE’s origins date to a chance encounter between D and Densmore on a Record Store Day panel in 2014, the same year the MC served as Record Store Day Ambassador. A year later, Densmore got a surprise email from Chuck that read, “You’ve got the beats, I’ve got the rhymes, let’s make doPE.” Then D, who studied graphic design at Adelphi University before launching PE, created the duo’s unique logo, which mixes the iconic Doors name font with the PE emblem of a man seen through the crosshairs of a gun sight.
After D started sending verses for Densmore to play under, the 81-year-old rock legend responded with, “Everybody gets older, but not everybody gets elder,” a phrase that became the thesis of the project, described as “a meditation on responsibility, legacy and the bond between generations,” as well as an inspiration for the album’s title and overarching theme.
“Every Tick Tick Tick” was produced by David “C-Doc” Snyder, Densmore and JP Hesser. “To me, the song ‘every tick tick tick’ captures that moment, as well as the times we’re living in,” said Record Store Day co-founder Michael Kurtz. “They both have an extensive history with record stores and with Record Store Day – Chuck served as RSD Ambassador and has celebrated by spending the day at various stores around the country. The Doors have released more titles for Record Store Day events than any other band, and when John released his book, The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison’s Legacy Goes On Trial, he toured record stores from Los Angeles to Paris to bring it to fans. I’m excited about this new doPE album by John and Chuck and to have ‘every tick tick tick’ be Record Store Day’s 2026 pick for RSD Song of the Year.”
Check out the track list for No Country For Old Men below:
- “Every Tick Tick Tick”
- “No Country For Old Men”
- “Doomsay”
- “The Bones of My Father”
- “I Love That I Don’t Know”
- “People Are Strangers”
- “Breakthru”
- “Ops3ssion”
- “Dajali ii”
- “Everybody Dies”
- “No Country For Old Men (dub)”
- “Saydoom (dub)”
