4. Hot Coffee

In 2004, a new GTA was ready. It was called San Andreas and would take the world by storm with its daring signature of location and music.

The game was set in a fictional LA ‘hood', and featured an array of gang members like no other title before. It was one of the very first to feature a black lead character in its storytelling and won instant plaudits.

Bugzy opens up on the time he spent playing the game and how its vivid caricatures of day-to-day gang life actually found a mirror in what he was going through in his own life.

He tells the story of how he grew up surrounded by crime.

He reflects on his experiences in a song he named after the game itself ‘San Andreas Mentality’.

San Andreas would become notorious not for its violence however but for a sex scene that was buried in its data files. One that was never supposed to be found.

But one that was discovered by a group of ‘modders’ who couldn’t believe what they’d stumbled upon - one of whom tells his story in this episode.

The find became known as ‘hot coffee’. But it was a find that would land GTA in some seriously hot water.

WARNING: This podcast contains themes of a sexual nature and adult language.

This podcast was first published in November 2022, and has been edited and updated in October 2026.

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CREDITS:

Written by Ciaran Tracey and Chris Warburton Presenter: Bugzy Malone Presenter: Chris Warburton Mixing and Mastering: James Bradshaw Assistant Producer: Gabrielle Gatti Additional journalism by Jo Newsholme, Helen Ledwick and Laura Conder

Executive Commissioners for BBC: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Assistant Commissioner: Natalie Mace

The Executive Producer is Ciaran Tracey for Big City Nights