San Andreas remains the benchmark. Its licensed OST stacked cookout staples from Michael Jackson, The Isley Brothers, Rick James, Boyz II Men, and Slick Rick alongside country and folk cuts that reportedly opened doors for players who might never have heard Jerry Reed's "Amos Moses," Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn's "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man," Whitey Shafer's "All My Exes Live in Texas," Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'," Ed Bruce's "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts," and America's "Horse With No Name." Several of those tracks did not carry over into Rockstar's GTA: The Trilogy remaster.
While Luke has gone on record calling Vice City the best licensed video game soundtrack of all time, San Andreas still holds a special place for players who treated CJ's road trips like a rolling playlist. GTA 6 will need to deliver something comparable if Rockstar wants that same sandbox pull, and fans are likely asking whether the next OST can go triple platinum on in-game drives the way San Andreas did.
