With Grand Theft Auto (GTA) Online’s latest update comes yet another affirmation of the music and video games industries’ growing partnership, as the two businesses continue to intertwine. On Tuesday (July 20th), GTA developer Rockstar Games announced that it’s soundtracking the update with music entirely from its own record label, CircoLoco Records.
Rockstar Games co-founded CircoLoco Records with eponymous Ibiza club culture brand CircoLoco in May, and the label released the compilation album Monday Dreamin’ in early July following four EP drops in June. Now, Rockstar is injecting the EPs into the game alongside a new remix of the whole project from Seth Troxler, one of the DJs on the original project. For players to access the remix, they have to find four separate media sticks — representing the four EPs — hidden across the Grand Theft Auto map. After finding the media sticks, players can listen to the music while driving and turning on the in-game radio.
The new music comes as GTA Online launches Los Santos Tuners, which features new storylines and content focused around the game’s already well-established car culture. Beyond the CircoLoco music, the new update has a few other musical features. Electronic artist Moodymann will release new music in the game alongside artists Nez, Channel Tres and Gangsta Boo, and players can now customize their in-game radios to flag their favorite pre-made stations.
Los Santos Tuners is just the latest update showing off Rockstar’s music focus. December’s Cayo Perico update gave players the Music Locker, a virtual nightclub featuring sets from resident DJs Moodymann, Palms Trax and Keinemusik. Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine also made cameos through the update, and Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas and rapper Flying Lotus curated their own radio stations, with Tierra Wack joining FlyLo.
Music artists and their labels are collaborating closely with video game companies. In the past year, Travis Scott, Lil Nas X, J Balvin and Kaskade all played virtual shows in popular games Fortnite and Roblox, while Swae Lee and Ozuna both partnered with and invested in esports startup XSET. As the space becomes trendier and will continue to grow, Rockstar and other popular game companies are poised for more music partnerships, and more CircoLoco/Rockstar crossovers are a low hanging opportunity.
Starting a record label wasn’t as much of a stretch as it would seem for a video game company and party promoter. Both Rockstar and CircoLoco have been closely associated with music for years, with CircoLoco helping break artists across the electronic and dance genres while Rockstar has been keenly focused for years on getting music in its games like GTA and Red Dead Redemption. Rockstar Games co-founder and president Sam Houser worked at BMG as an executive before founding Rockstar.
“This came from a passion for music, and it brings an opportunity for us to come together and join forces to push music,” Rockstar Games’s director of music Ivan Pavlovich told Rolling Stone of the label partnership when it launched in May. “Music’s been part of our DNA since day one. Sam [Houser] grew up on dance music, a lot of us who work at the company grew up on dance music, it’s a way to come together with our friends and support this scene, these artists and all this music.”
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There is no question that Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out made a serious impact and continues to hold weight. The project showed that hip hop is not limited by age and proved that a long-awaited return can still land in a major way regardless of the time away.
If you need a reminder, the Virginia duo’s fourth studio album debuted comfortably within the top five of the Hot 200. It secured the number four position and moved an impressive 118,000 units in its first week.
On top of that, it picked up a win at this year’s Grammys, earning Best Rap Performance for “Chains & Whips.” The album also received four additional nominations, including Best Music Video, Rap Album, and Album of the Year.
It is hard to believe the project will officially hit its one year mark this summer on July 11. Even so, Pusha T is making it clear that both supporters and critics should not be overlooking it anytime soon.
While performing at Coachella yesterday, King Push told the crowd that LGSEO still sits at the top, regardless of genre.
He said, “‘Let God Sort Em Out’ is still the album of the motherfckin year. Whole new year, still album of the year,” per Kurrco. “Album of the motherfcking year until we drop again. We don't care who dropping. It don't matter.”
That is a strong statement for obvious reasons, especially considering the recent claims surrounding Push himself.
Over the same weekend, hip hop social media lit up after several alleged reference tracks connected to Quentin Miller and Push began circulating. Three tracks surfaced in total, but one that drew the most attention was an alleged record titled “Real Gon’ Come.” It is said to come from the DAYTONA era, around 2017 to 2018.
The situation gained traction because fans remember the past tension between Drake and Pusha T before Drake’s clash with Kendrick Lamar. During that feud, Pusha accused Drake of using ghostwriters on tracks like “Infrared,” which appears on DAYTONA. On that song, he raps, “The bigger question is how the Russians did it /
It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin.”
Reactions have been mixed. Some people argue it is not a major issue since Miller’s alleged contributions were limited to hooks. Others point out that the songs were never officially released, so they see no real problem. Meanwhile, critics view it as clear hypocrisy on Pusha T’s part, a perspective that DJ Akademiks has also supported.
