Rockstar Games has long been associated with music, mostly because of the finely curated variety of radio stations that play real songs throughout the Grand Theft Auto games. In a partnership with CircoLoco, Rockstar Games will now officially step into the record label industry by co-founding CircoLoco Records.
CircoLoco is based in Ibiza, Spain, and has been a mainstay of underground dance music culture thanks to its famous venue DC10, and its weekly showcase of dance music from around the world. It has been active since the late '90s and was chiefly known for its weekly Monday night radio show that exhibits lesser-known dance music artists. While CircoLoco has not worked with Rockstar Games before, many artists who appear in the Cayo Perico heist, and in clubs throughout the game, have performed at DC10 or been featured on CircoLoco's "After Hours" show.
The brand-new CircoLoco Records is planning to release a number of EPs to build hype for a compilation collection of new artists to the label, which will release on July 9th, 2021. The first EP, titled Monday Dreamin', will debut in just a few weeks on June 4th, and will feature the talents of Sama' Abdulhadi, Kerri Chandler, Rampa, and Seth Troxler. The brand has not yet revealed the exact details of further EP releases in the coming weeks, though RockStar and CircoLoco have released the names of artists to be featured in each EP and the planned compilation.
Both CircoLoco and Rockstar Games had a lot of kind words for each other in their respective announcements – CircoLoco praised Rockstar's dedication to properly curating house and dance music for their games, while Rockstar praised the club's "commitment to music-focused, no-frills" club music. For fans of underground dance music and the Grand Theft Auto series, it's a match made in heaven. There have been few pairings like this in the past, and each half has an excellent track record of elevating underground dance music, whether that be in games or in clubs.
In addition to choosing quality artists for the label's future endeavors, RockStar and CircoLoco say they are committed to "championing forward-thinking dance music artists" in terms of environmental sustainability. The wide-ranging electronic genre is not known for having a particularly bad environmental effect, but in the aim to "break new ground" it appears Rockstar Games and CircoLoco want to create a progressive brand that goes beyond just putting out albums.
CircoLoco Records' first EP, Monday Dreamin', will release June 4th, 2021 on most major music streaming platforms.
Source: Rockstar Games, CircoLoco Records