The new GTA VI trailer released on Netflix confirms that Rockstar is once again taking music very seriously. With more than a dozen songs, four decades of history, and styles ranging from hip-hop to synth-pop, country, rock, dembow, and electronic music, we’re starting to get a sense of what the new Vice City will sound like.
There’s one thing millions of players do when they start a new Grand Theft Auto game for the first time.
Steal a car.
And turn on the radio.
Because for decades now, GTA hasn’t just had soundtracks.
He has a good knowledge of music.
“Vice City ” made an entire generation associate Miami with Michael Jackson, A Flock of Seagulls, Hall & Oates, and Iron Maiden.
San Andreas turned its radio stations into an encyclopedia of hip-hop, funk, rock, and country music.
GTA V took that idea even further by incorporating radio stations programmed by real artists and producers.
Now coming soon Grand Theft Auto VI.
And after the spectacular , nearly 27-minute “Extended Look” released on August 27 via Netflix, we’re finally beginning to get a sense of what the most anticipated video game of the year might sound like. The footage was captured entirely in-game on PlayStation 5, and Rockstar describes it as its biggest and most immersive evolution to date.
The short answer:
It’s going to sound amazing.
And extraordinarily eclectic.
GTA VI doesn’t aim to recreate the ’80s; rather, it aims to capture the current vibe of Florida
That is possibly the first major discovery.
We’re heading back to Vice City.
But we’re not going back to 1986.
The new GTA is set in the present day and expands its setting to the fictional state of Leonida, inspired by Florida. Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos explore a world that blends beaches, highways, clubs, suburbs, swamps, drug trafficking, social media, and crime.
Musically, that completely changes the game.
Rockstar can capture the musical essence of the old Vice City while also depicting contemporary Florida.
The new trailer proves exactly that.
In a matter of minutes, we can go from Depeche Mode to Kodak Black.
From Phil Collins to Sexyy Red.
From Def Leppard to Chimbala and Omega.
From The Bellamy Brothers to Aluna and Jayda G.
That generational clash seems to be part of the game’s identity.
The songs we’ve heard in the new GTA VI
The Extended Look has revealed about 14 commercial songs, although some counts reach 15 if additional tracks are included. Rockstar has not yet confirmed that all of them will necessarily be included in the final radio stations: some are associated with scenes in the video, so it’s best to refer to them as music confirmed in official material, rather than a definitive radio tracklist.
Here are the main ones:
Birdman feat. Lil Wayne – “Pop Bottles”
Kodak Black – “Skrilla”
Sexyy Red & Tay Keith – “Pound Town”
Def Leppard – “Love Bites”
Captain & Tennille – “But I Think It’s a Dream”
Prefab Sprout – “Cars and Girls”
Cliff Richard – “Devil Woman”
Phil Collins – “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)”
The Bellamy Brothers – “Let Your Love Flow”
Depeche Mode – “People Are People”
!!! feat. Meah Pace – “Off the Grid”
Chimbala & Omega – “You Can Tell (Hold Me)”
Aluna & Jayda G – “Mine O’ Mine”
Elderbrook & Bob Moses – “Inner Light”
Seen this way, the list seems almost absurd.
That’s exactly why it sounds just like GTA.
Lil Wayne puts Miami back on the rap map
One of the most interesting tracks is “Pop Bottles” by Birdman featuring Lil Wayne.
The song was originally released in 2007, right around the time Lil Wayne was heading toward the peak of his commercial success.
But within GTA VI, it also makes geographical sense.
We are in the southern United States.
Florida.
Miami.
Clubs.
Cars.
Money.
Excess.
The connection between Southern rap and the visual world of Vice City is practically inevitable.
And “Pop Bottles” has exactly that DNA.
But Kodak Black is even more important
If Rockstar wants to capture the essence of contemporary Florida through music, Kodak Black is practically the obvious choice.
Born in Pompano Beach, Florida, Kodak is a direct product of the cultural ecosystem that GTA VI is satirizing and reimagining.
The fact that “Skrilla” appears in the new teaser isn’t just about it being a recognizable rap song.
It works like geography.
The same goes for much of the hip-hop that will likely end up playing on the game’s radio stations.
GTA has always understood one fundamental thing:
Music helps build a city just as much as its buildings do.
Sexyy Red brings the here and now to Vice City
Next up is “Pound Town, ” Sexyy Red’s collaboration with Tay Keith.
Here, Rockstar is moving in a direction completely opposite to nostalgia.
The song is part of a recent wave of American rap and connects GTA VI to the viral, explicit, and exaggerated language of the internet.
This is particularly fitting for a video game that places social media and its grotesque portrayal of Florida at the center of its satire.
The new Vice City isn’t just on the streets.
It’s also available on mobile.
And then Phil Collins appears
This is where things get especially interesting for those familiar with the history of GTA.
Because “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” is playing .
Phil Collins.
Vice City.
Again.
It’s not a new relationship.
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, released in 2006, Phil Collins appeared as himself within the video game itself.
It wasn’t just one of his songs playing.
He was quite a character.
The player even had to protect him during a performance.
That’s why hearing Collins mentioned in connection with Vice City again now seems like much more than just a random choice.
It’s almost a nod to history.
A small connection between two generations of GTA.
Depeche Mode: Memories of Old Vice City
Something similar happens with Depeche Mode’s “People Are People. “
Released in 1984, it fits perfectly into the musical imagery we associate with 1980s Miami.
Synth-pop.
New wave.
Synthesizers.
Electronic music production.
But Rockstar seems to use these classics quite intelligently.
He isn’t building a theme park based on the 1980s.
He’s mixing them with contemporary music.
The past and the present travel along the same roads.
Def Leppard Might Have the Perfect Home, V-Rock
And then we come to another delightful detail.
Def Leppard’s “Love Bites” appears in the new teaser.
And there’s also a very interesting visual element surrounding V-Rock.
The legendary rock radio station from *Grand Theft Auto: Vice City* and *Vice City Stories* is referenced in promotional material for *GTA VI* via a logo on one of Jason’s T-shirts.
Rockstar hasn’t formally announced that V-Rock is a playable radio station yet, so we shouldn’t take it as a given.
But the clue is right there.
And if he finally comes back…
Def Leppard would have a pretty obvious home.
Prefab Sprout is a wonderful choice
Probably one of the most LoffMusic-esque tracks in the entire preview is “Cars and Girls” by Prefab Sprout.
The song appeared on *From Langley Park to Memphis* in 1988.
And the title is almost comically fitting for GTA.
Cars.
Girls.
Sophisticated pop.
But it is also a song that, historically speaking, serves as a reflection on the superficiality of a certain strand of American rock mythology.
Placing it within a game that has spent decades satirizing the American Dream itself has a touch of irony that is quintessentially Rockstar.
Country music as we drive through Leonida
Another key track is “Let Your Love Flow” by The Bellamy Brothers.
Because GTA VI doesn’t take place solely in Vice City.
Leonida is much bigger.
Rockstar has created rural areas, roads, swamps, and communities inspired by different parts of Florida.
And that’s when country music really makes sense.
The soundtrack needs to change when we leave the neon lights of Vice City behind.
That contrast between the city and the surrounding area will likely be crucial for radio stations.
Chimbala and Omega: The New Vice City Speaks Spanish
And this may be one of the most important elements of the entire soundtrack.
“Se Me Nota (Agárrame)” by Chimbala and Omega appears in the preview.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The real Miami is inseparable from Latin and Caribbean culture.
Dominican Republic.
Cuban.
Puerto Rican.
Venezuelan.
Colombian.
Central American.
Vice City in 2026 wouldn’t be believable unless that reality were reflected musically.
That’s why it would be reasonable to expect the final game to have a much greater Latin American presence than previous installments.
Reggaeton.
Dembow.
Latin trap.
Sauce.
Caribbean music.
And probably more Spanish than we’ve ever heard on a GTA radio station.
Even Celia Cruz appears in the tracks on the new album
Among the song titles published following the release of the “Extended Look, ” “Besito de Coco” also appears, associated with Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Justo Betancourt, and Papo Lucca in some lists.
If that musical theme ends up making its way into the final game, it would be particularly meaningful.
Because it would connect two Floridas.
The historic one.
And the contemporary one.
The coexistence of classic Latin music and contemporary dembow on the same streets would be an extraordinarily accurate way to portray Miami.
And there will be electronics, too
Vice City at night needs clubs.
And Rockstar seems to know it.
The new video features “Mine O’ Mine” by Aluna and Jayda G and “Inner Light” by Elderbrook and Bob Moses.
House.
Electronics.
Dance.
Contemporary production.
There is also enormous potential for the endgame here.
Miami has played a pivotal role in American club culture, from electronic music to house and Miami bass.
It would be surprising if Rockstar didn’t capitalize on that legacy.
But we already knew six songs before Netflix
The new video doesn’t start from scratch.
The first two trailers had already helped shape part of GTA VI’s musical identity.
Trailer 1, released in December 2023, was essentially built around:
Tom Petty – “Love Is a Long Road”
A perfect choice.
Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida.
Once again, music functions as geography.
Trailer 2 significantly expanded the map with songs such as:
The Pointer Sisters – “Hot Together”
Wang Chung – “Everybody Have Fun Tonight”
Tammy Wynette – “Talkin’ to Myself Again”
Zenglen – “Child Support”
Jay Ferguson – “Thunder Island”.
If we add that material to what we’ve heard so far, we already have about twenty songs that Rockstar has officially used to build the musical universe of GTA VI.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that all twenty will make it onto the final playlists.
But it’s starting to sound like an aesthetic statement.
Tom Petty was perhaps the first major clue
Let’s go back to that first song for a moment.
“Love Is a Long Road.”
Tom Petty.
Florida.
American rock.
But also roads.
And GTA has always been, at its core, a game about driving while listening to music.
Maybe Rockstar was telling us from the very first trailer how we should interpret its music selection.
They aren’t just looking for famous songs.
They’re looking for songs that have an emotional connection to the place.
The music will also be part of the story itself
And this is where GTA VI could go even further.
One of the supporting characters confirmed by Rockstar is Dre’Quan Priest, who is connected to the music business in Vice City.
Also featured are Real Dimez, a female rap duo trying to make a name for themselves on the scene, and the label Only Raw Records is part of that narrative ecosystem.
That means music won’t be limited to radio stations.
It will be part of the plot.
GTA has been parodying the music industry for decades.
But GTA VI could integrate it much more deeply into its world.
Will there be songs created exclusively for GTA VI?
Here, we are still in the realm of speculation.
Rockstar has not announced a list of artists who are writing songs exclusively for the game.
But there are important precedents.
GTA V and, especially, GTA Online ended up incorporating new music, real DJs, record labels, clubs, and artists into the game’s universe.
If GTA VI continues to evolve in this way, it’s entirely plausible that Only Raw Records and Real Dimez will allow Rockstar to release fictional music or real collaborations created specifically for the game.
But for now, that hasn’t been confirmed.
And it’s important to distinguish between what we know and what we want to happen.
The big question: How many songs will GTA VI have?
Rockstar has not disclosed the figure either.
GTA V ended up becoming a massive music platform thanks to its successive updates and radio stations.
GTA VI now has the opportunity to start from an even more ambitious point.
And there’s an obvious reason.
It’s been 13 years since GTA V.
The way we discover music has completely changed.
Spotify.
TikTok.
Playlists.
Algorithms.
Streaming.
Global DJs.
Afrobeats.
Latin trap.
Dembow.
A new golden age of country music.
The International Boom in Electronic Music.
GTA VI features four decades of popular music to play.
And Rockstar seems determined to use them all.
The soundtrack we can look forward to
After listening to all the official material released so far, we can begin to identify six major musical genres.
Hip-hop and Southern rap: Lil Wayne, Birdman, Kodak Black, Sexyy Red.
Latin American and Caribbean: Chimbala, Omega, Zenglen, and possibly salsa and classical Latin American music.
Classic rock and pop: Tom Petty, Def Leppard, Cliff Richard, Phil Collins.
New wave and synth-pop: Depeche Mode, Wang Chung, Prefab Sprout.
Country: Tammy Wynette, The Bellamy Brothers.
Electronic and club music: Aluna, Jayda G, Elderbrook, Bob Moses, !!!.
And we’ve probably only heard a small part of it.
GTA has always had one of the best music algorithms in the world
Except that it was never an algorithm.
They were people choosing songs.
That’s one of Rockstar’s biggest secrets.
Before Spotify.
Before TikTok.
Before algorithmic playlists.
Millions of people discovered music while driving cars they had just stolen in a video game.
GTA taught us funk.
Hip-hop.
Country.
Metal.
New wave.
Reggae.
House.
Soul.
And classic rock to generations who might never have discovered those songs otherwise.
Now GTA VI has the chance to do it again.
On November 19, we’ll steal a car again
Netflix has shown us how GTA VI moves.
How it shoots.
How he drives.
How Jason Lives.
How Lucia Lives.
What Vice City looks like when night falls.
But for those of us who also see GTA as a musical experience, the new trailer has revealed something just as important.
How Leonida starts to sound.
Phil Collins can get along with Kodak Black.
Depeche Mode with Sexyy Red.
Def Leppard with Chimbala.
Prefab Sprout with Jayda G.
Country, dembow, hip-hop, house, and synth-pop all traveling down the same roads.
Rockstar hasn’t released the definitive soundtrack yet.
We may not even have heard their best songs.
But there’s one thing we already know.
When Grand Theft Auto VI is released on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, we’ll probably go back to doing exactly the same thing we’ve been doing for decades.
We’ll steal the first car we come across.
We’ll turn on the radio.
And even before starting the first mission…
We’ll just sit here and listen to see what song is playing.
