History of Music in Rockstar Games and Cameos by Real-Life Artists

In this article, we will dive into the unique world of musical cameos in Rockstar Games. We will look back at how the developers, from the early GTA titles to GTA Online, collaborated with legendary musicians and composers, integrating their work into their projects. From the iconic underground label Moving Shadow to unexpected appearances by real stars like Dr. Dre.

At first, the young studio, just starting its way in the game industry, did not pay much attention to the choice of music labels and third-party artists. At that moment, the developers were focused on creating the main content, and adding music to the games was more of a secondary process. They used a minimal number of songs, often limiting themselves to music created in-house or available without the involvement of major music agencies.

GTA 2

Terry Donovan, one of the founders of Rockstar Games, played a key role in this whole story. He oversaw the promotion, GTA related content and much more. In addition, Terry was a DJ and a big fan of electronic music, and had extensive contacts in the music scene. One of his acquaintances was DJ Timecode, founder of the Moving Shadow label. Thanks to their friendship, several tracks from this label appeared in GTA 2.

Moving Shadow was an extremely underground and controversial phenomenon in the Drum & Bass and Jungle genre. This label became known for its unique philosophy and approach to creating music where there was no room for commercial standards. Their compositions stayed out of the mainstream and were never featured in popular music videos, which only emphasized exclusivity and independence. Instead, the label targeted a narrower but dedicated audience who appreciated not only musical diversity but also the spirit of counterculture. Thus, Moving Shadow's music not only set new standards in electronic sound, but also became an important part of the subculture that was supported by independent clubs and underground scenes around the world.

It is not surprising that such a label attracted the attention of young developers from Rockstar. Firstly, Moving Shadow symbolized a dark, unconventional musical trend that spread in narrow circles, and the license for such releases was acquired without significant costs. Second, Rockstar sought to create something special, expecting it to help them reach the widest possible audience.

In the end, the music that belonged to this label ended up both in the game itself (featuring artists such as E-Z Rollers, Dom & Roland) and in the short film GTA 2: The Movie, a clear indication of Rockstar's confidence in their musical approach. E-Z Rollers' composition could be heard as the title theme of GTA 2.

It's also worth noting that Rockstar Games has tried its hand at various aspects of the entertainment industry, including launching its own nightclubs called Rockstar Loft. This project emphasized the company's desire to be closer to its community, especially a youthful audience with a passion for club culture and electronic music. In the future, this will be reflected in Rockstar's approach — the company will repeat its experiments, but in a different format, reinforcing the influence of music culture in its projects.

In addition, Rockstar Loft could serve as a platform for attracting celebrities, which provided an opportunity to build connections with media personalities.

Midnight Club: Street Racing — an unconventional vision of racing and music

A year later Midnight Club: Street Racing — the first street racing game with unique cars and characters in New York and London was released. The game was literally packed with underground music of that time, where most of the playlist was occupied by tracks from the previously mentioned Moving Shadow label.

The developers noted that “the label's music expresses the urban life of street racing.” According to Terry Donovan, “their passion for creating superior music instead of conforming to industry standards makes them and their music truly unique.” Two months after the game's release, Moving Shadow is releasing a licensed album on two vinyl records with several tracks from Dom and Roland.

This label will be one of Rockstar's permanent partners. Its tracks will be heard not only in GTA 2 and Midnight Club: Street Racing, but also in subsequent projects such as GTA 3 (2001) and Midnight Club: DUB Edition (2005).

In the January 2001 UK Playstation magazine, Rob Playford, founder of the Moving Shadow label, mentioned some very interesting and important details. For example, he emphasized that he has been working on music since 1990, and in 1998 they were approached by game studios to create compositions, and Moving Shadow made their own division — Resonant Matrix. After founding the division, the first project was a racing crime simulator called Midnight Club. After the first successful work on the project, they talked and agreed to produce some songs for the yet to be released GTA 3.

In addition to tracks from Moving Shadow, the game features tracks by one of the most influential musicians in the techno scene, Derrick May. Who is Derrick May? He was one of the pioneers of the techno genre, whose influence on the development of electronic music can hardly be overestimated. Over the course of his career, he invested a tremendous amount of time and effort into the development of techno, making him one of the most important artists in the music culture of the 80s and 90s.

Undoubtedly, Rockstar recognized this contribution and included several of his musical pieces in the game's playlist. His iconic track Strings of Life, released in 1987 and a true techno classic, was re-released in 1997. In the 2000s, along with other reissues, this track was added to the game's soundtrack.

Derrick May's music accompanies players in menus, in free mode and during races, giving the Midnight Club atmosphere a recognizable rhythm of the late 90s electronic scene and emphasizing the atmosphere of night racing and cityscapes.

Also worth noting is the participation of artists such as Surgeon — his cinematic approach to music and inspiration from electro and techno have come to define the atmosphere of New York City in the early 2000s.

In the first trailer of GTA 3, published on February 1, 2001, the audience was introduced to gameplay to the composition by Derrick May — Kaotic Harmony. This composition, re-released in 1997, was so evocative that it became a symbol of gamemade redefinition.

Fun fact: Derrick May is a member of the famous “Belleville Three”, a name derived from the town of Belleville, where he and his band went to high school and started making music together. An interesting fact is just that from GTA 3 to GTA LCS, a neighborhood on Staunton Island — Belleville Park appears in the game. This could be a reference to this group as a tribute to May for his contributions to Rockstar Studios' games.

In the summer of the same year, a trailer was shown to German audiences, featuring a song by Tom Novy — Back to the Street. Tom Novy — is a German DJ, producer and composer who gained fame in electronic music, particularly in the house genre. He began his career in the 1990s. The song itself, featured in the German trailer, was released in 2001, a couple of months before the release of GTA 3.

Interestingly, it was planned to add Tom Novi himself to the game as a cameo along with his composition, but for one reason or another this plan was not fully realized. True, his model can be found in the PS2 version of GTA 3.

During this period, the Moving Shadow label reappeared, which promoted the genres of jungle and drum'n'bass through the in-game radio station MSX FM. DJ Timecode, the owner of the label, personally mixed tracks for the game and radio, working alongside MC Codebreaker, the voice of in-game radio.

In addition, K-JAH radio featured the work of dub/reggae artist Scientist, with the artist himself as the host voice, confirming that Rockstar strived for a harmonious and diverse sound design for their projects, creating the atmosphere of New York City at the time.

Game Radio FM deserves special attention, where the developers experimented with different musical directions. To begin with, it was The Alchemist who introduced Rockstar to the Game Recordings label, which became the basis for Game Radio FM. In the future, this producer would play an important role in the creation of songs for the GTA series, when the label itself, founded three years before the release of GTA 3, ceased to exist in 2002.

Interesting fact: did you know that producer Reef's instrumental called Scary Movies, which is played on Game Radio FM in GTA 3, was the basis for a track by the band Bad Meets Evil (Eminem and Royce da 5'9” duo) back in 1998?

Interestingly, Royce da 5'9" tracks such as I'm the King and Spit Game made the radio playlist, with one produced by the same The Alchemist and the other by Red Spyda. And rap singer Agallah, whose song Rising to the Top was featured on Game FM, can be heard again in the future Rockstar project, but outside the GTA series and with new songs.

Also a selection of music for Game Radio FM was compiled by Stretch Armstrong — an experienced radio host, whose career began in the 90's. Interesting fact is that MF Doom, which we will talk about later, recorded his debut songs with Armstrong himself. As for the voice of the radio host, it was Lord Sear. These decisions once again emphasized Rockstar's desire to integrate street culture into their games.

It would not be out of place to mention that all tracks from Rise FM were taken from a small label called Generation Records, and the mix for the radio and voice for the presenter was handled by Terry Donovan himself. It should be borne in mind that most of the tracks on the playlist consist of tracks taken from Generation. The label itself disappeared from view in 2003, two years after the release of GTA 3.

GTA Vice City — radio legends from the past

In 2002, in the colorful and rich world of Vice City, the emphasis was not only on a soundtrack filled with hits by Michael Jackson and Laura Branigan, but also on the participation of iconic radio hosts. Wildstyle Pirate Radio was hosted by the legendary Mr. Magic or John Rivas, who set the tone for New York radio from 1979 until 2002.

It is also worth noting that Vice City was the last game in the GTA series to feature music written by Rockstar. For example, several tracks were written by Craig Connor (now a former Rockstar musician) and Stuard Ross. In the future, starting with San Andreas, the game will appear exclusively licensed music.

Midnight Club 2 – from rap to electronic experimentation

In 2003, Rockstar San Diego (formerly Angel Studio, acquired by Rockstar in 2002) demonstrated an even more interesting musical experiment in Midnight Club 2. Thus, the rap singer 8-Off Agallah, whom we know from Game FM, gave the game two original tracks — one of which became the main theme, and the second, in duet with Ike Eyes, was played during the races around Los Angeles.

In addition, the game soundtrack was enriched with compositions by Thomas Bangalter, one of the members of the legendary Daft Punk duo. The tracks Outrun and Extra Dry were taken from the 2002 movie Irreversible.

Rockstar also turned to the Brain Recordings label, selecting a number of tracks, including works by Michael Da Brain and Jack Henderson (the pseudonym of two musicians known as Martin Kaiser (Ray Clark and Claus Hansel)).

Their music, due to the collaboration between Michael Da Brein and Frank D. Noyz, became iconic for conveying the spirit of futuristic Tokyo in the 2000s.

In addition to the previously mentioned Brain Recordings, Rockstar also reached out to other labels such as Platipus Records, Saw Recordings and System Recordings. We ended up getting some tracks from Art Of Trance, Kansai, as well as Kinder and Moogroove.

It would seem that nothing could prevent the second part of Midnight Club from moving to the top and winning the hearts of players. However, all plans and ideas were ruined by the release of Need For Speed: Underground, which a month after the release of Midnight Club 2 gained huge popularity, taking all the laurels and attention, leaving Rockstar in a difficult position. However, Rockstar isn't one to give up without a fight.

Among the interesting things we can note that in the first part of Need For Speed: Underground there was a truck with a DUB trailer, which was probably the motivation for Rockstar to start cooperation with this famous magazine and try to compete with the competitor EA. This will affect both transportation and music.

Max Payne 2 – poetry and music

In 2003, an important musical highlight in Max Payne 2 was the Poets of the Fall song Late Goodbye.

Interestingly, this song is based on the poems of Sam Lake, the writer and founder of Remedy Entertainment. The track is not only heard in the end credits, but also periodically appears in the game world, performed by various game characters.

GTA San Andreas – characters who set the tone

In 2004, GTA San Andreas brought to the forefront not only music, but also the creation of unique characters. For example, the character Ryder was given a voice by rap singer MC Eiht (his composition Hood Took Me Under was played on Radio Los Santos), and Ice-T was chosen for Madd Dogg, who gave a voice for the character himself for the storyline and for the news radio.

Julio G or Julio Gonzales is a real-life radio host from California and played an important role in GTA: San Andreas, becoming the host of Radio Los Santos. The importance of his role lies not only in his professionalism, but also in the fact that Gonzales himself witnessed significant events, such as the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which are reflected in the virtual world. In the game, Giulio G comments on what is happening, expressing his opinion that continued violence and rioting only makes the situation worse. His words “it is necessary to stop rioting, it destroys the neighborhoods” are a reference to real events, which gives the game even more depth and connection to the real history.

The main character Carl Johnson (CJ), whose voice belongs to rapper Young Maylay, whose real name is Christopher Bellard, also deserves special attention. The real Young Maylay, who began his career in the early 2000s due to the fact that he wanted to get involved in gang violence (Young was involved in gang skirmishes for the Crips), started his own label and released his debut album after the popularity of the game. This fact illustrates how closely related the game industries and the music business are.

Interestingly enough, Ice Cube participated in a mixtape recording session with MC Eiht and Young Maylay in 2006, showcasing a live collaboration between rappers and street culture.

Midnight Club: DUB Edition and Liberty City Stories — cross-genre

As we mentioned earlier, Rockstar was trapped after the release of Need For Speed: Underground in 2003, so the team had to immediately think about what to do next. As a result, in 2005 Rockstar started to cooperate with car brands and DUB magazine, which allowed to include about a hundred licensed tracks into the game. In addition to the previously mentioned Moving Shadow repeatedly, the game included work from the Underground Resistance and Submerge labels. In the end, the game received both re-released Dom & Roland tracks from Midnight Club: Street Racing (they are labeled VIP) and new tracks, along with tracks from artists Omni Trio and Aquasky.

This also included equally popular artists such as T.I., Nine Inch Nails and many others. It is ironic that T.I. first appeared in EA's racing game — NFS: Underground in 2003, and then, two years later, in Midnight Club: DUB Edition. This once again emphasizes Rockstar's desire to go head-to-head and compete with other studios.

Liberty City Stories used several tracks from Midnight Club: DUB Edition for MSX FM, demonstrating Rockstar's strategy of “killing two birds with one stone” — getting licenses and musical material for future projects.

Also of note was The Liberty Jam radio, led by DJ Clue, which featured tracks from artists DMX and The L.O.X.

Vice City Stories – cameos by real artists

In 2006, Vice City Stories became the first game in the GTA series to feature a real-life performer as a playable character. For example, we were introduced to pop singer Phil Collins, where the player as Victor Vance accompanied him from assassins and eventually became a bodyguard at his concert. After completing missions related to Phil, we can attend his concerts. Among other things, the player now has two Collins compositions — such as Easy Lover for Flash FM and the legendary In the Air Tonight for Emotion 98.3.

In addition to Collins, the game featured the compositions of Roy Ayers, an artist who has already won the hearts of GTA SA fans with his song Running Away. His song Everybody Loves the Sunshine appeared in this part of the game. Unfortunately, on March 4, 2025 Roy Ayers left us, and Rockstar honored his memory.

GTA 4 – film music experiments

In 2008, Rockstar Games introduced a new approach to the choice of musical accompaniment for GTA 4. For example, for the first trailer and later on the radio The Journey used a composition by the legendary Philip Glass — Pruit Igoe.

This composition, originally created for the documentary Koyaanisqatsi, reflected the relationship between cinematic techniques and the dynamic progress of the world. It showed how cinematic acting can be.

In addition, the developers decided to expand the choice of radio hosts by adding such personalities as:

The fact that Ruslana is the first multilingual presenter is interesting. According to her statements, Rockstar Games contacted her directly with a proposal to participate in the voiceover of the radio host, and as a result they spent 18 hours non-stop at the studio in New York. On top of that, the people at the studio gave them the freedom to work freely in terms of time and expression. No less remarkable is the fact that she was entrusted to select the compositions for the game, which included her composition and the works of many other CIS performers. Her creative input and participation in the selection of musical compositions emphasize how Rockstar sought to convey the culture of different regions through music.

It is worth remembering that among CIS natives, not only Ruslana with her attractive pitch as a radio host, but also rapper Seryoga had an impact on GTA. He performed the composition Liberty City Invasion and later released a separate video clip dedicated to the game, which epitomizes the Russian music world and culture:

It should be added that Rockstar began to invite musicians to the role of radio hosts in order to get exclusive versions of their compositions. This becomes evident on several radio stations: for example, it was with the same Roy Ayers — on the radio station Fusion FM, which he hosts, plays his own composition. This again allowed Rockstar Games to use the tactic of killing two birds with one stone: for inviting him to be a host, the company received unique compositions.

One year after the release of GTA 4, in 2009, a modification from the host MC Codebreaker, previously known for the MSX FM radio station in GTA 3 and LCS, appears. This modification adds the Blueprint X radio station to the game for the Xbox 360, which was later ported to the PC version as well, as the original was lost. Inspired by the idea, Codebreaker turned to the dogsonasid forum (a special forum related to the Drum & Bass genre) in the summer with a proposal to compile a collection of songs in the genre, which, in his opinion, should have been represented in the game. Already in October of the same year the modification was released.

The main reason for the creation of this modification was the dissatisfaction of Codebreaker and fans of the game the lack of London Drum & Bass in GTA 4. Developers, according to fans, began to favor more popular and commercial performers, instead of including independent and underground authors, which was traditionally inherent in previous parts of the series.

This case is not unique. For example, Need For Speed composer Matt Ragan claimed in an interview that a man from A&A (Artists & Repertoire) came to them and convinced EA that licensing pop artists was the right way to go. As a result, he was appointed head of EA Music, and he himself said that many of the songs written before him at EA sounded as if they had been made on Casio — with primitive sound quality. This also emphasizes that different brands and companies have different strategies and approaches. Whereas labels like Moving Shadow have always taken an unconventional approach, targeting unpopular genres. In the world of pop music, there is no need to follow such principles.

As for the radio station, you can evaluate the modification in the video below:

Midnight Club: Los Angeles – constancy

In 2008, Midnight Club: Los Angeles continued the tradition of musical experimentation, offering a diverse and bold soundtrack. In the game you could hear compositions of such artists as Deadmau5, who later appeared in GTA: Chinatown Wars, as well as Nine Inch Nails, a band that had already appeared in the previous part of Midnight Club. In addition, the playlist included tracks from Ice Cube, Disturbed (whose songs may be familiar from Need For Speed: Most Wanted), as well as the then gaining popularity Kid Cudi with his iconic song Day 'N' Night. This selection of music demonstrated the developers' attention to music trends and their ability to integrate the most relevant and iconic tracks of the time into the game.

An interesting decision was the reference to Young Maylay with the track You Ain't Uh, which quite served as a thank you for the long collaboration.

GTA Chinatown Wars – rap and alternative sounds

In 2009, GTA Chinatown Wars broke new ground with the rap scene. The title theme of the game was performed by MF Doom, whom we remember from the short story in the GTA 3 part, and Ghostface Killah, where Oh No, a member of the band Gangrene, was the producer.

Oh No and The Alchemist are also members of the musical group Gangrene, whose tracks were added to the radio station of the same name in GTA: Chinatown Wars — Alchemist.

Between 2013 and 2017, Rockstar, in collaboration with Gangrene, will release an entire album for GTA 5, further emphasizing the importance of musical experimentation in Rockstar projects.

Many of the radio stations in this GTA have names that refer to one artist or another. For example, there is a DJ Khalid radio station in the game; or the previously mentioned Deadmau5, who also had a separate radio station dedicated to him.

It is important to note that in the world of video games to this day there is still a tendency to create radio stations with names in honor of artists and labels. For example, the Forza Horizon games have separate Hospital Records label selections.

Max Payne 3

Moving on to 2010-2012, Max Payne 3 is worth mentioning. In this game, most of the tracks were recorded by HEALTH, an American band that combines industrial and noise rock. Tracks like TEARS during the airport shootout or MAX: PANAMA, which has similar samples to the music from the GTA 5 menu, became important elements of the game's tense atmosphere.

HEALTH will subsequently once again be involved in creating music content for GTA 5 and the GTA Online updates.

GTA 5 – a musical masterpiece with a multi-volume soundtrack

Since 2013, GTA 5 has become a veritable musical laboratory. The Music of Grand Theft Auto 5 album is divided into three volumes:

From 2015 to 2017 Oh No and Tangerine Dream continued their collaboration, creating soundtracks for GTA Online's DLC updates.

On a separate note, the Mona Da Vinci track by Tangerine Dream that plays in the main menu of GTA 5 is not included in this album, but the song was borrowed from the 2011 album of the same name.

Additionally, in 2014, Tangerine Dream released The Cinematographic Score GTA 5 exclusive album The Cinematographic Score, which was limited to 2,000 copies.

This album features original versions of tracks that were not altered or reworked by Oh No and The Alchemist, as happened with the tracks included in the game itself. Many of the tracks could later be heard on the second volume of The Music Grand Theft Auto 5 album. If you are curious and want to know what is the difference between The Cinematographic Score and The Music of Grand Theft Auto 5 along with the soundtrack from the GTA Online updates, then we will leave this video below with an educated comparison of the versions:

In 2015, The Alchemist and Oh No, in conjunction with the release of GTA 5 on PC, released an album which is a selection of tracks for radio station The Lab.

The Lab has been ported to PS3 and X360 as the latest update for these consoles. It is worth noting that GTA 5 is the first game to feature a radio station with pop music genres — Non-Stop-Pop FM.

Update GTA Online: After Hours, Los Santos Tuners and The Contract

The 2018 After Hours update brought new cameos from DJs like Solomun, Tale Of Us, Dixon and The Blessed Madonna to the game. And their tracks appeared on the radio.

HEALTH have released a special album for the 2019 Arena War update:

Especially significant 2021 updates are Los Santos Tuners and The Contract, in which Rockstar brought in Kenny Dixon Jr. (Moodymann) and Dr. Dre, Anderson .Paak, DJ Pooh for cameos, and added new Dr. Dre tracks featuring Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and others.

From 2017 until today, Rockstar has been adding new radio stations with different genres of music to the online mode. For example, they added Kult FM — a radio station that contains alternative and experimental music genres.

By this time, the company had established its own record label, CircoLoco Records, which once again emphasizes the integration of the music industry and game projects. It is noteworthy that Sam Houser, one of the founders of Rockstar, has been to Ibiza many times, which also testifies to the company's close connection with club culture.

Ibiza has been a center of music promotion for many years, especially in the context of electronic dance music.

The role of radio hosts

Not to be overlooked are the contributions of real musicians who have become the voices of game radio. Among them:

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The story of musician cameos in Rockstar games is a story of the mutual influence of industries on each other, where passion for quality music becomes a key element in the success and iconic status of the games.