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I’ve written before about just how much I love Grand Theft Auto’s radio stations. Rockstar has an incredible knack for musical curation, and there’s nary been a track in those games that I haven’t vibed with. Hell, I’ve spent most of my life as a raging emo in England and I absolutely loved the country-bumpkin-as-hell K-Rose back in San Andreas.
Critical Hit
Welcome to Critical Hit, where I (or someone else on the PC Gamer team) celebrate and lament all things videogame music, audio design, and the ways our favourite games make our ears tingle.
I’ve also got a huge soft spot for Non Stop Pop in Grand Theft Auto 5—Cara Delevingne’s borderline robotic London accent cutting through nostalgic bangers from the ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s like Amerie’s 1 Thing and Pet Shop Boys’ West End Girls, later introducing some more modern tracks like Lorde’s Tennis Court and M83’s Midnight City.
Every game in the series is always home to a huge spread of stations that cover just about every genre you could wish for, and it gives Rockstar so much room to play around with iconic tunes and more niche things you’d only otherwise hear from your mate-of-a-mate-of-a-mate-of-a-mate at a 4am after drinks in some stranger’s diabolically tiny flat.
With Grand Theft Auto 6 set to take place in a modern-day Vice City, that gives the developer even greater liberty to go ham on which tracks it includes. We’ve got a whole Covid era of TikTok songs that feel like they’d fit right into the Florida-adjacent Leonida (but please no Dance Monkey, I beg of you), plus a wealth of untapped 80s and 90s tunes that would be fitting of this digital sunshine state.
We’ve got over a decade’s worth of artists to pick from since Rockstar last added songs to Grand Theft Auto 5 who I think would be incredible for some late-night drives—PinkPanthress, Charlie XCX, Kaytranada, and Tame Impala come to mind as just a few who would absolutely bang in the new game. And my inner emo would love to see bands like Fontaines D.C., Don Broco, and Spiritbox appearing in Rockstar’s oft-criminally underutilised modern rock stations.
But what about you? Are there some of your favourite artists who you think would fit Grand Theft Auto 6’s world of Leonida perfectly? Or are there tracks you hope make it in just because they’re funny, or would annoy a mate of yours? Do you want TikTok brainrot tracks? Please say no to that one.
Whoever or whatever you’ve got in mind, be sure to drop a comment and let us know the artists and tracks on your personal wishlist. After all, we’re gonna be spending an awful lot of time in cars in that game—the songs better be good!
