Here’s everything you can listen to on Cyberpunk 2077

Naturally, this is something CD Projekt Red prioritised just as highly as the other elements that make up the game. In order to bring their world to life, and incorporate a strong sonic presence in a way that feels authentic to the game’s setting, the team enlisted a team of well-known artists and revered acts from across the electronic music realms, plus hip-hop, rock, noise, jazz and more, for musical contributions or even the odd cameo.

As you cruise around Night City, the fictional, neon-hued backdrop to the majority of the game’s action, you can tune into music from the likes of Run The Jewels, Grimes, SOPHIE, Shygirl, Nina Kraviz, A$AP Rocky, Gazelle Twin, Let’s Eat Grandma‘s Rosa Walton, HEALTH and more. The soundtrack will be accessible in-game via radio stations, much like the Rockstar Games title Grand Theft Auto V.

All of the artists take on alternative personas and pseudonyms that further submerge them into the Cyberpunk 2077 universe. Grimes, for instance, takes on a rather fitting role as cyborg pop star and apparent cover girl (not for Crack Magazine, this time) called Lizzy Wizzy. Meanwhile, SOPHIE and Shygirl link up as fictional duo Clockwork Venus and offer up a track titled “BM”. Though, NUXXE co-founder Shygirl revealed on Twitter last week that the tune they’ve contributed is in fact her recent single “SLIME“, and not a new song. 

Lizzy Wizzy voiced by Grimes is @cybrmagazine’s new issue cover appearing in AR. The issue features exclusive Lizzy Wizzy artwork, @Grimezsz interview as well as a chat with Cyberpunk inventor Mike Pondsmith & even in-game adverts IRL.

Get your copy: https://t.co/L8toJ523Fm pic.twitter.com/wue5DImB2k

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) September 11, 2020

Elsewhere, Nina Kraviz is a “ripperdoc” called Bara Nova. There’s even has an entire radio station dedicated to Kraviz’s, AKA Nova’s, music. Grimes meanwhile contributes her tune “4ÆM”, lifted from her 2019 studio album Miss Anthropocene. It features alongside a new track titled “Delicate Weapon”. Grimes actually debuted “4ÆM” last year at The Game Awards, simultaneously unveiling her involvement in Cyberpunk 2077 in the process.

While the above artists dominate the Night City airwaves with their licensed material – much like real life, in some regards – there’s also an original soundtrack dreamt up by a team of master composers to enjoy. Polish composers Marcin Przybyłowicz and P. T. Adamczyk, who’ve previously worked on other CD Projekt Red titles such as The Witcher 3 and Gwent, led the in-house music team. They collaborated with Paul Leonard-Morgan, a BAFTA award-winning, Emmy and Ivor Novello-nominated composer and producer.

In a behind the scenes preview into Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack, the team divulged some of their processes, references and inspirations. Essentially, the idea was to take the kind of ’80s electronic elements often associated with sci-fi productions and soundtracks but modify them with a hard-hitting ’90s rave and techno attitude. The team also tried to use as many analogue synthesisers as possible: “so it’s got a warmth to it.” 

Style-wise, they homed in on this heady fusion of rave, industrial and techno interspersed with alternative genres that share a similarly riotous or defiant edge. It makes sense though, given that they needed the sonics to reflect the dysfunctional and technology-driven environment the story is set in. Plus, the grit of inner city life circa 2077.

A fusion of “super heavy” and “super dirty” underground electronic music melded with “very beautiful and ambient” material was utilised to compliment both the world and the game play; keeping you immersed just that bit more. “[The] score is the main vessel of emotions in both film and video games, and Cyberpunk 2077 is no different,” explains Przybyłowicz in his interview snippet.

As Pitchfork revealed last month, CD Projekt Red is releasing the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack as two standalone projects. 2077: Radio Vol 1 is out on 11 December and 2077: Radio Vol 2 is scheduled for release on 18 December. You can check out a tracklist below and read our Grimes cover story here.