For what it's worth, this wouldn't be Poolside's first appearance in the franchise either. The band previously had "Do You Believe?" featured in GTA V. So the connection between these artists and Rockstar isn't new. What is new is how casually the confirmation was dropped in an Instagram reply of all places, like it was no bigger deal than recommending a playlist.
The song itself, "Back to Life," has that breezy, sun-drenched synth-pop sound that would slot right into Vice City's aesthetic without breaking a sweat. It's also a 2023 release. If this were a clout play, you'd expect the artist to push something newer. The fact that it's an older deep cut actually makes the claim more believable, not less.
The second artist fueling the fire is Alan Palomo, better known as Neon Indian. Palomo has a deeper history with Rockstar than most. His track "Polish Girl" appeared on Radio Mirror Park in GTA V, and more notably, "Change of Coast" was an exclusive song written specifically for GTA Online's introduction sequence. That track became iconic in its own right, and Palomo has previously described his experience working with Rockstar as one of the best music licensing deals he's ever had.
During a recent episode of the "This Podcast Should Be Played Loud" podcast, Palomo got coy when the conversation turned to future projects. He didn't name GTA 6 directly. What he did say was that his relationship with Rockstar Games isn't over, telling listeners it "ain't the end of me in Rockstar Games."
Given that GTA 6 is the only known project consuming every ounce of Rockstar's attention right now, the math isn't exactly complicated.
These two aren't operating in a vacuum, either. The list of artists who have hinted at, or outright confirmed, their involvement in GTA 6 keeps growing. T-Pain has claimed to have worked with Rockstar. ScHoolboy Q took to social media to announce his inclusion. Rapper Skrilla has claimed his viral track "Doot Doot 6 7" made the cut. DJ Khaled is rumored to host his own radio station. And then there's the big one: producer Jermaine Dupri accidentally revealed during a podcast that Drake will have his own station in the game, with the ability to upload unreleased music directly to it.
If even half of these turn out to be true, GTA 6's soundtrack is shaping up to be the most ambitious in the franchise's history. And that's before you factor in the tracks already confirmed through the two official trailers.
Here's the thing, though. None of this is confirmed by Rockstar, and Rockstar is not in the business of confirming anything right now. The studio has released two trailers in over two years, a handful of screenshots of locations, characters, and loading screens, and not much else. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has said that marketing will begin this summer, a "huge departure" from his usual reluctance to commit to specific timelines. Until then, we're left piecing things together from deleted Instagram comments and podcast teases.
Rockstar is famously controlling about what information gets out. It went to war over the 2022 leak. It DMCA'd AI-generated content that resembled its IP. But when it comes to musicians dropping hints about the soundtrack, the response? Radio silence. Panama's comment stayed up long enough for the internet to save proof and share it everywhere. Palomo's podcast episode is still live. Either Rockstar doesn't care about music leaks, or it recognizes that soundtrack speculation only adds fuel to the hype machine at a time when it has nothing else to feed it.
To be fair, there's also the possibility that some of these artists are simply wrong or getting ahead of themselves. Music licensing for a game of GTA 6's scale is a moving target.
Just because an artist was told their track made the cut doesn't mean it'll survive to launch. We've seen this before. Anita Ward's team initially appeared linked to GTA 6 through Spotify metadata before her management walked it back. 50 Cent's supposed involvement turned out to be for a completely different project.
That said, both Panama and Neon Indian have established, documented relationships with Rockstar. Both appeared on the same station in GTA V. Palomo literally wrote an exclusive track for Grand Theft Auto Online. These aren't random artists chasing clout. They're repeat collaborators who know how the process works, which makes the leaks that much harder to dismiss.
Grand Theft Auto is synonymous with good music. From the moment you steal your first car and the radio kicks in, the soundtrack becomes inseparable from the experience. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City's radio stations defined an entire generation's relationship with 1980s music. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas introduced millions of players to West Coast hip-hop. GTA V's Radio Mirror Park, where both Panama and Neon Indian lived, became a gateway to indie electronic music for people who never would have found it otherwise.
With GTA 6 locked in for November 19, 2026, and Rockstar's marketing blitz expected to begin this summer, the full soundtrack reveal is likely months away. But if the artists themselves keep talking, we might not have to wait that long. Rockstar can control its own messaging all it wants. Controlling every musician on a roster this size? That's a different kind of challenge entirely.
