Music plays an important part in Grand Theft Auto 5, the game's radio setting a tone as players drive down a Los Santos highway or busy downtown street. Although most players may not be fully listening to the lyrics as they take charge behind the wheel, it turns out that some of the hits included in GTA 5’s tracklist pose a problem for the fictional setting of the 2013 open world crime game.
GTA 5 takes place in the state of San Andreas, a fictional version California. It includes fictional areas like Los Santos and Vinewood, named after Los Angeles and Hollywood, respectively, and these real-world locations directly influenced the aesthetic animations of the bustling open world environment. In fact, Grand Theft Auto games are known for taking place in a fictional trinity based off of popular American cities – San Andreas (California), Liberty City (New York), and Vice City (Miami).
Even though driving around Los Santos in GTA 5 feels like taking a ride in actual L.A., which speaks to the similarities between the game’s environment and its real-life counterparts, distinct things are still changed to ensure the continuity of the fictional locale. The Hollywood sign is changed to Vinewood, for instance, and the Del Perro Pier has no mentions of Santa Monica Pier’s name. But it appears that Rockstar forgot to take into (or, more likely, didn't care) that some of the music in Grand Theft Auto 5 may not acknowledge these fictional locations, creating a problem for continuity.
The Problem With GTA 5’s Music
A big plot hole in the Grand Theft Auto 5 is that players can listen to songs on the radio that directly reference places like L.A. and Hollywood, even though those locations aren’t supposed to exist in the GTA universe. For instance, Los Santos Rock Radio players 1978’s “Hollywood Nights” by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, East Los FM plays 1970’s “Los Angeles Negros” by El Rey Y Yo, and Channel X plays 1980’s “Los Angeles” by X, exclusive only to PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions of GTA 5. Even more songs reference the state of California, including Vinewood Boulevard Radio’s 2013 “California Grrls” by Shark, 2015’s “California” by E-40 featuring Dam-Funk & Ariel Pink, played by The Lab, and finally, the Lowdown 91.1 plays 1969’s “California Soul” by Marlena Shaw.
It's clear that the selection of music doesn’t exactly provide consistency when it comes to Grand Theft Auto 5's setting, since it should reference San Andreas, Los Santos, and Vinewood rather than California, Los Angeles, and Hollywood. It may be asking too much for a developer to completely alter the lyrics (and title) of a song given that it’s such a minor detail, but at the very least, Rockstar should’ve considered switching these Grand Theft Auto 5 songs with some other hits that stayed within the game’s continuity.
