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 Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas... a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where film stars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gang-bangers. Now, it's the early 90s. Carl's got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster. On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take back control of the streets. ABOUT THE GAME Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas by Rockstar North is the third GTA game in the so-called 3D Universe, originally released on the PlayStation 2 in October 2004. Set in 1992 and taking inspiration from gangsta rap culture and films such as Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society, San Andreas tells the story of Carl "CJ" Johnson, a former member of the Grove Street Families street gang in Los Santos (a fictionalized version of Los Angeles). CJ has spent the last five years living in Liberty City but returns to the west coast following the death of his mother. Naturally, things go sideways as soon as CJ gets off the plane, as corrupt cops frame him for the murder of one of their colleagues and he slides back into the gangster life he tried to leave behind. Of course, Los Santos is only the beginning. One of the big selling points of San Andreas was having an entire state (based on parts of California and Nevada) to play around in, which was very ambitious considering the PS2's limitations. Some technical shortcuts had to be taken to make such a massive open world work on the hardware and the PS2 definitely struggles to keep up at times, but somehow the whole thing manages to (mostly) hold together. The size of the open world and the sheer amount of content was hugely impressive at the time, and it still holds up surprisingly well. There is a lot more dialogue this time around, and most missions are much more tightly scripted than in the last two games. Basically, this was where the modern Rockstar open world game was truly born - for better and worse. ABOUT THE LP Just like the GTA III and Vice City LP about a year ago, I am once again joined by my usual LP partner ChaosArgate, who never played the classic GTA games when they were new because he was too young at the time. I, on the other hand, am a miserable old bastard so I've completed San Andreas at least half a dozen times since 2004 and even 100%'d the game. In fact, this will be a 100% run. All the missions, all the collectibles, all the races, all the driving school gold medals (which aren't actually required for 100% but I'm getting them anyway), everything. This time, we'll be playing the original PS2 release from 2004. The original original release, which means certain missions will be even more frustrating than they are in the later versions of the game.  And yes, the Hot Coffee content is technically on the disc but I have no way of accessing it even if I wanted to show it off (which I don't) so you'll have to find your low-poly sex scenes somewhere else. That reminds me I should probably get around to continuing the Witcher 1 LP at some point...Why the PS2 release, then? Well, this is the original version of San Andreas, which also means it's the one with all the original visual effects, lighting, various world details and atmosphere intact. When San Andreas was ported to other systems, the resolution, textures and draw distance got a boost but the visual style was changed significantly and many effects and details were simply absent. Basically, the later ports look much, much cleaner but more sterile. I'm sure many players prefer that clean and crisp look (not to mention smoother performance), but I'm a big fan of the PS2 atmosphere so that's what I'm going to show off. There are mods to add the original visuals back to the PC port, but I had some technical issues with that and didn't feel like dealing with it. The PS2 Classics release on PS4 has the original graphics at a high resolution but controls worse due to the lack of pressure-sensitive buttons (if you're doing the harder vehicle challenges, you really, really need analog throttle and brake) and has some other problems. Emulation isn't quite perfect either. So, in the end I just decided to go with the original version, running on an actual PS2 through the XRGB-mini Framemeister. Although I'm in the PAL region, I'm playing the NTSC version on a North American PS2 so there's no 50 Hz bullshit here. There's a lot more story this time around and ChaosArgate is coming into this blind, so  NO PLOT SPOILERS! VIDEOS [YouTube playlist] Episode 1: After Five Years on the East Coast... Episode 2: CJ Goes Legit Episode 3: Drive-Thru Episode 4: Cesar Vialpando Episode 5: OG Loc Episode 6: Ryder the Genius Episode 7: Madd Dogg's Rhymes Episode 8: Burning Desire Episode 9: Wrong Side of the Tracks Episode 10: Doberman Episode 11: The Green Sabre Episode 12: Badlands Episode 13: Body Harvest Episode 14: Two Tickets to Paradise Episode 15: Supply Lines Episode 16: CJ the Tourist Episode 17: Battle Construction Vehicles Episode 18: Back to School Episode 19: Loco Syndicate Episode 20: Mendez & Toreno Episode 21: Ice Cold Killa Episode 22: Mountain Cloud Boys Episode 23: Amphibious Assault Episode 24: Yay Ka-Boom-Boom Episode 25: Through the Desert Episode 26: Rolling, Turning, Diving Episode 27: Viva Las Venturas Episode 28: CJ's Previously Owned Vehicles Episode 29: Running, Scrambling, Flying Episode 29B: San Fierro Rush (SF Race Tournament) Episode 30: The Black Project Episode 30B: Road Rash (Las Venturas Race Tournament + Other Racing Type Stuff) Episode 31: The Four Dragons Episode 32: Bulldozers, Trucks & Trains Episode 33: Familiar Faces (and Maccer) Episode 34: Dam and Blast Episode 35: Greatest Plan Ever Episode 36: Saint Mark's Bistro Episode 37: Breaking the Bank at Caligula's Episode 38: A Home in the Hills Episode 38B: Climb Like a Monkey (Air Races) Episode 39: Grove 4 Life Episode 39B: Midnight Club L.S. (Los Santos Race Tournament) Episode 40: The Battle of Los Santos Episode 41 (FINAL): End of the Line Bonus: Victory Lap ------ DMorbid fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Jul 14, 2021 |
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Feb 13, 2021 00:47
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| # ? May 5, 2024 05:12 |
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 Episode 1: After Five Years on the East Coast... ...it was time to go home. edit: The video is blocked in North Korea, Syria, Iran and Cuba (i.e. the countries without any kind of WMG licensing agreements), which will probably be a running theme with these episodes. I'm sure my legions of fans in those four countries will be crushed. DMorbid fucked around with this message at 02:08 on Feb 13, 2021 |
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Feb 13, 2021 00:48
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Well, you’re too late for the definitive screenshot LP of this game- Jerusalem has that honor- but the definitive video one hasn’t been done yet- I said The Professional might have done it on YouTube but I was wrong as I know now after actually watching his work, sorry buddy. Based on what I’ve seen of your past work, DM, you may have a chance. I’ll at least watch the effort. Good luck, man. Remember Deadpool 2 didn’t win any Oscars in this universe, but it was still great. Try to approach its standard.
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Feb 13, 2021 01:28
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Aww poo poo, here we go again!
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Feb 13, 2021 01:40
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Ah yes, the last GTA game I played and the game that taught me how the concept of ludonarrative dissonance worked.
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Feb 13, 2021 01:57
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ChaosArgate posted:Aww poo poo, here we go again! you saw nothing, that was always the thumbnail DMorbid fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Feb 13, 2021 |
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Feb 13, 2021 02:03
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Sweet has a messed up neck in those cutscenes.
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Feb 13, 2021 02:22
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DMorbid posted:edit: The video is blocked in North Korea, Syria, Iran and Cuba (i.e. the countries without any kind of WMG licensing agreements), which will probably be a running theme with these episodes. I'm sure my legions of fans in those four countries will be crushed. You're more powerful than Coca-Cola, blue jeans, and Mickey Mouse combined.
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Feb 13, 2021 03:00
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Funny thing about that tagging mission - you'll notice that the first one beeped on completion while the last two didn't. On the Xbox version, at least, that means you got the tag completed message and it will stay tagged... but didn't actually count toward completion. I learned this the hard way when I meticulously recorded doing all 100 and ended up with only 99.
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Feb 13, 2021 03:36
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gently caress, I've done it for all three of the GTA3 era games. gently caress ambulance missions
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Feb 13, 2021 04:38
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I swear this LP is going to get me to reinstall and replay this game. In short... "Ah poo poo, here we go again."
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Feb 13, 2021 04:42
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I thought about putting together some kind of visual comparison of the different versions, but Digital Foundry already did something like that a couple of years back so I'll just link that instead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXMhrny2fn8 They compare the PS2 Classics version on the PS4, the port to the original Xbox, and the Xbox 360/Xbone backwards compatibility version which is based on the mobile port and sucks in all kinds of exciting ways. They don't show the PC port but the Xbox version is basically the same with worse textures and lower resolution. Years ago, I used to have a "definitive" modded PC install with the PS2 lighting and other details, the improved shadows and textures from the PC port and the high-res/widescreen-optimized UI elements from the mobile port, plus GInput for better controller support. The end result was really nice, but it was a monstrous pain in the rear end to set up (apparently, San Andreas modders assume everyone downloading the stuff has been modding the game since 2005, so documentation is spotty at best) and even then it could be rather buggy at times. When I was testing out stuff for this LP, I installed a simple mod package that just added all the PS2 stuff back in, but it was also really buggy on my PC so I didn't bother with it. DMorbid fucked around with this message at 09:53 on Feb 13, 2021 |
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Feb 13, 2021 06:42
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On the subject of bad driving in LA, it seems like everyone in the US wants to claim that the drivers where they live are the worst, but as a Californian (not from LA though) I can confirm that ours are the worst. So much so that a rolling stop is called a California Stop, at least in California.
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Feb 14, 2021 08:18
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When I said the mobile port and the other releases derived from that version sucked in all kinds of ways, I wasn't exaggerating. Here's a video going over the various bugs, glitches and other issues in these ports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhVdb4K1M-M It's 37 minutes long, and there's supposed to be a followup at some point. Oh, and there are some spoilers for late-game content, nothing huge but I figured I should give a heads up anyway just in case. edit: okay yeah it actually does show bits of some late-game cutscenes and stuff so maybe don't watch this if you're somehow completely unspoiled on the plot and want to keep it that way DMorbid fucked around with this message at 09:40 on Feb 14, 2021 |
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Feb 14, 2021 09:28
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 Episode 2: CJ Goes Legit We're not doing any of this gangster stuff, we're gonna find a legit job. Or, in this case, several jobs as we try our hand at food delivery, taxi driving, BMX stunt riding, and firefighting (also at ambulance driving and graffiti art, but all that was done offscreen). Speaking of BMX, I'll just quickly borrow this GIF from Jerusalem's LP (if you can't tell what's going on, he threw a bunch of molotovs at the bike): /Update%203a/8-gtasa08.gif)
DMorbid fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Feb 16, 2021 |
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Feb 15, 2021 09:39
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I think San Andreas was the only GTA I game I 100%. It felt a lot easier somehow and less of an overall pain in the rear end. Also, I thought washing machines in kitchens were fairly common in places with small apartments? I've seen it a few times in the States if there's no utility room or just a small number of rooms in general, but it's also something you see widely in the UK because everything is so cramped. I actually didn't realise it was seen as unusual.
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Feb 15, 2021 13:17
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CrashScreen posted:I think San Andreas was the only GTA I game I 100%. It felt a lot easier somehow and less of an overall pain in the rear end. quote:Also, I thought washing machines in kitchens were fairly common in places with small apartments? I've seen it a few times in the States if there's no utility room or just a small number of rooms in general, but it's also something you see widely in the UK because everything is so cramped. I actually didn't realise it was seen as unusual.
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Feb 15, 2021 13:29
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After getting the 100% shirt from Vice City, I decided to ignore doing the side stuff in SA. It was just too much work.
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Feb 15, 2021 13:44
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Huh, don't think I actually knew about the bike delivery missions when I played. I certainly can't remember doing them.
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Feb 15, 2021 14:08
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DMorbid posted:I don't think I've ever seen that in Finland. If it's more of a UK thing, that'd make sense because GTA is of course developed in Scotland. It's definitely a thing in the UK; washing machines came to be considered kitchen appliances because the kitchen and bathroom are usually the only rooms with access to plumbing in your typical terrace and the bathroom would have been too small and not safe for serious electronics.. Most such houses either date back to Victorian builds in the industrial era, which obviously wouldn't have considered electric appliances in their design, or the 50's post-war reconstruction efforts, which needed to be efficient with their construction given the circumstances.
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Feb 15, 2021 14:22
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They're also both users of a heavier power supply than traditional outlets, so when you're jamming people together like sardines it's cheaper and cleaner to put them on top of each other than to run a second extension of that power line for each unit. Heck you see that in most full on houses too when you consider that cabling goes in the walls
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Feb 15, 2021 15:26
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FoolyCharged posted:They're also both users of a heavier power supply than traditional outlets, so when you're jamming people together like sardines it's cheaper and cleaner to put them on top of each other than to run a second extension of that power line for each unit.
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Feb 15, 2021 16:47
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I know dryers in the US often need a more powerful outlet. Is this perhaps a washer-dryer combo machine for even more space saving?
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Feb 15, 2021 18:55
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Tiggum posted:What? Is there something different about washing machines in the UK? I've never heard of a washing machine you can't just plug into a normal outlet in Australia. In Canada at least you need a special heavy duty plug and outlet for larger appliances like washers and refrigerators.
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Feb 15, 2021 19:10
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What do those fires in the gif spell out?
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Feb 15, 2021 22:30
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DoubleNegative posted:What do those fires in the gif spell out?
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Feb 15, 2021 22:40
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DoubleNegative posted:What do those fires in the gif spell out? 
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Feb 16, 2021 04:36
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 Episode 3: Drive-Thru I'll have two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda.
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Feb 19, 2021 21:26
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Sir, I'm sorry, but we are only serving a limited menu right now. It's due to the current extreme winter weather and lack of water crisis in the area. We're only serving numbers 1-3 and 7-9, no sodas, no shakes. Thank you for choosing Burger Town, the only restaurant open right now. Care to modify your order please? I live in Texas and spent two hours in a Whataburger drive thru line yesterday only to be told the above. Feel free to laugh along with me if you like.
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Feb 19, 2021 21:48
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They just want you to buy something before letting you continue. It really takes too much time to showcase the clothes. There was a prostitute giving out blows at the crack house. I guess they conveniently ignored removing that during the patch.
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Feb 20, 2021 00:04
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Scalding Coffee posted:There was a prostitute giving out blows at the crack house. I guess they conveniently ignored removing that during the patch. I think it's even in the Japanese release, which was released two years after the original version and cut/changed even more stuff (apparently we can thank San Andreas for the stricter rating system Japan implemented in the mid-00s, and the game still had to be heavily edited). Speaking of prostitutes, I noticed I accidentally killed the one on the floor next to the Balla I was fighting because of the stupidly massive hitbox on the bat's ground attack - a rare case of someone accidentally killing a prostitute in GTA. DMorbid fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Feb 20, 2021 |
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Feb 20, 2021 00:19
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I have to say CJ is channeling some serious Tupac vibes with his new outfit.
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Feb 20, 2021 03:23
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DMorbid posted:Yeah, that animation is apparently still in the cutscene in the patched version (my disc is the original uncut release, as I mentioned in the OP) and nobody noticed. It was certainly openly discussed back in the day. IIRC, that cutscene is one of the big reasons the Hot Coffee content was dummied out instead of removed when the minigame was scrapped. They didn't want to remake any content that happened to use the animations in question. The other interesting thing is that people used in-game menu textures and such to construct that legendary order (there's argument over whether or not that order was just for Smoke or if it included everybody else's, but that's kind of moot because he ate everything anyway). So people have done challenge videos where they went to various fast-food places and bought it all. Unfortunately, all such videos have spoilers in the comments even when the video does not.
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Feb 21, 2021 06:10
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 Episode 4: Cesar Vialpando We do some drive-bys on a bunch of Ballas, rescue Sweet from getting himself shot by the Seville Families, and meet our new best bud.
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Feb 21, 2021 23:06
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Kudos to this game for depicting the relationship between black and Hispanic gangs in virtual LA realistically and positively. Could have gone another way very easily especially given stereotypical characters in other games by the same company.
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Feb 21, 2021 23:13
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No idea if it's different (easier) in the pc version but my brilliant strategy for Drive-by is to slam into the balla's and run them over without leaving. Your homies have decent accuracy when the car is moving slowly or stationary. Doing actual drive-bys seem to be the more difficult way and you take a lot more damage. 
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Feb 21, 2021 23:29
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I noticed there are a certain number of outcomes for some missions in the GTA games. Remember how in GTA3 when you got those Mafia guys to rob a place and it could be all of them coming out or someone dies? If you repeat some missions enough times, you might see the difficulty go all over the place because of enemy accuracy. In VCS, a Lance Vance mission that is on-rails has about 5 possible outcomes on how much damage that gets done to you even if you are killing everyone as fast as possible.
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Feb 22, 2021 04:56
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The only times I've gotten good results in that Drive By mission is when I did the shooting myself. Can't remember if the game lets you get out and AK them, but you can certainly do a normal driveby that is much more accurate than your idiot posse.
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Feb 22, 2021 07:27
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 Episode 5: OG Loc Loc, I know you're gangsta, but please get in the car. We've also reached the end of our backlog, so the next update will be coming Sunday or Monday at the earliest.
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Feb 23, 2021 17:33
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I wonder if Loc was part of the inspiration for Lamar in GTA 5.
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Feb 23, 2021 18:29
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