50 For 50 | Life, Music, & Friendship

Garrett Gonzales & Mike Joseph
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Music History
  • Updated Weekly

Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales have been friends for over 20 years. Their friendship began following each other's music reviews on the now-defunct website, Epinions. In 2026, they officially turn 50 and this podcast is a celebration of their 50 years, and over 20 years as friends. They will choose an album that was released each year from 1976 to 2025 and do a deep dive history and culture podcast episode about it. There will also be other episodes about artists, current music events, music documentaries and movies and more.

  1. 5d ago

    John Mayer's Top 5 Songs, Ranked and Defended | Top 5

    Garrett and Mike each build their own Top 5 John Mayer songs — two separate lists, with some overlap and some surprises. Songs like "Clarity," "Belief," "Assassin," "Gravity," and "New Light" are all in the mix as they build out their rankings and defend every pick — but you will have to listen to hear each full list. Then it's Rock With It or Stop With It on "Daughters," "Your Body Is a Wonderland," "Waiting on the World to Change," and "Who Do You Love" — checking which of Mayer's biggest, most-debated hits still hold up today. This episode pairs with our full Continuum deep dive, where we cover John Mayer's origin story, the making of the album, the celebrity backlash years, and the road to the Sphere. Listen and subscribe: Website: https://www.50for50.net Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/50-for-50-life-music-friendship/id1857746432 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ADmN7bp4fXQzAZsnSuFQj YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@50_For_50

    John Mayer's Top 5 Songs, Ranked and Defended | Top 5

  2. Oct 13

    John Mayer's Continuum: No Hits, No Problem | 50 for 50

    His label told him the album had no hits on it. He cried, almost quit music for design school, and released it anyway — and Continuum went on to sell over 5 million copies and become the record that made John Mayer a serious artist instead of just a hitmaker. Garrett Gonzales and Mike Joseph trace Mayer's path from a Berklee dropout busking in Atlanta to a 7-time Grammy winner, running through his full discography — sales and certifications for every album from Room for Squares through Sob Rock — before getting into the parts of his story that have nothing to do with the music: the Jessica Simpson and Taylor Swift tabloid years, the 2010 Playboy and Rolling Stone interviews that set off a years-long public backlash, and three of his biggest hits that won Grammys and topped charts, only to get torn apart by critics (and by St. Vincent) years later. From there it's a full Continuum deep dive — how John Mayer Trio bandmates Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino helped build the album after Mayer's label flatly rejected it, studio stories from Memphis's Royal Studios, a track-by-track breakdown, and the three Grammys it won. The episode closes with his touring history, Dead & Company, and the road to his solo Sphere residency in spring 2027 — reuniting the exact trio that made Continuum in the first place — plus Grammy Redux, our Dream Collaborator pick, and Tiers ranking every studio album. Listen and subscribe: Website: https://www.50for50.net Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/50-for-50-life-music-friendship/id1857746432 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ADmN7bp4fXQzAZsnSuFQj YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@50_For_50

    John Mayer's Continuum: No Hits, No Problem | 50 for 50

  3. Oct 2

    A Different World Is Back: Inside the Hillman Reboot | The Cool Check-In

    Debbie Allen spent over a decade trying to get this made. On this episode of The Cool Check-In, hosts Garrett Gonzales and Mike Joseph break down Netflix's A Different World revival — a sequel series following Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert's daughter at Hillman College — and dig into exactly how it got here, who's in it, and what actually happens in the first two episodes. In this episode: The origin story — Debbie Allen pushing for a revival since 2012, Netflix quietly developing it starting in 2024, the rare pilot order, and a premiere date timed to the exact 39th anniversary of the originalThe cast breakdown — eleven original actors back as real recurring characters (not just cameos), plus new lead Maleah Joi Moon as Deborah Wayne and a stacked new supporting cast including Method Man and Tichina ArnoldA full recap of Episodes 1 & 2 — the roommate and ex-boyfriend drama that kicks things off, and the $100 million financial scandal that suddenly makes Dwayne Wayne's new job as interim president the real engine of the season New episodes of The Cool Check-In drop regularly — subscribe for our takes. Website: https://www.50for50.net Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/50-for-50-life-music-friendship/id1857746432 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ADmN7bp4fXQzAZsnSuFQj YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@50_For_50

    A Different World Is Back: Inside the Hillman Reboot | The Cool Check-In

  4. Sep 29

    SZA's Ctrl: From TDE's Only Woman to Movie Star | 50 For 50

    Before Ctrl ever came out, SZA was the only woman on a label full of rappers, quietly building a catalog nobody outside TDE was paying attention to. Garrett Gonzales and Mike Joseph trace SZA's real origin story — a religiously blended New Jersey upbringing, a near-quit before Ctrl ever got made, and her signing as the first (and for years only) woman on Top Dawg Entertainment's roster — before digging into the three overlooked mixtapes, See.SZA.Run, S, and Z, that built her reputation years before her debut album existed. From there it's a full Ctrl track-by-track and a Ctrl vs. SOS sound comparison — how Ctrl's hazy, focused neo-soul gave way to SOS's much bigger, genre-hopping sprawl, including a surprising classic-R&B streak on "Snooze" with Babyface that traces straight back to Luther Vandross and the Quiet Storm era. Garrett and Mike also run through her best collaborations, from Kendrick Lamar's "Luther" — which just won Record of the Year at the Grammys — to "All the Stars" and Doja Cat's "Kiss Me More." The episode closes with a Grammy Redux covering two decade-defining snubs and the Record of the Year win that finally broke through, plus the Dream Collaborator pick for this one. Listen and subscribe: Website: https://www.50for50.net Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/50-for-50-life-music-friendship/id1857746432 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ADmN7bp4fXQzAZsnSuFQj YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@50_For_50

    SZA's Ctrl: From TDE's Only Woman to Movie Star | 50 For 50

  5. Sep 25

    Usher's Top 5 Songs, Ranked and Defended

    Garrett and Mike build their individual Top 5 Usher songs and put four more to the Rock With It or Stop With It test. Garrett's list: "U Remind Me" at No. 1, then "Yeah!," "U Got It Bad," "U Don't Have to Call," and "Will Work for Love" rounding it out — with plenty of other contenders (including "Burn," "Hey Daddy," "There Goes My Baby," "Hard II Love," "You Make Me Wanna...," and "My Way") getting a mention along the way. Then it's Rock With It or Stop With It on "Love in This Club," "OMG," "My Boo," and "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" — checking which of Usher's 2000s-into-2010s hits still hold up today. This episode pairs with our full Confessions deep dive, where we cover Usher's origin story, the making of the album, and the 8701/Napster leak story. Website: https://www.50for50.net Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/50-for-50-life-music-friendship/id1857746432 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ADmN7bp4fXQzAZsnSuFQj YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@50_For_50

    Usher's Top 5 Songs, Ranked and Defended

  6. Sep 23

    Confessions & The Usher Story: A Full Career Deep Dive | 50 For 50

    He was a nine-year-old in a Chattanooga church choir, a 15-year-old whose debut album nearly got him dropped, and — after Puffy Combs personally put him through a Bad Boy finishing school — one of the only artists with No. 1 hits in three consecutive decades. This week we trace Usher's whole arc: the Star Search discovery, the Jermaine Dupri partnership that built My Way, the Napster leak that forced a total rebuild of 8701, and the very public collapse of his relationship with TLC's Chilli that became the emotional fuel for the album that made him a legend. Then it's the deep dive on Confessions itself: the studio stories behind "Yeah!" (built from a beat that got scooped by Petey Pablo days before Usher could use it), "Burn," and "My Boo" (which Usher reportedly hated on first listen, and which was almost recorded with Beyoncé instead of Alicia Keys) — plus the real story behind "Confessions Part II," which, according to co-writer Jermaine Dupri, isn't actually about Usher's life at all. Plus the trivia (a first-week sales record, a Stevie Wonder harmonica cameo, a $44 million lawsuit), Album Tiers across the full discography, a Grammy Redux on Usher's eight wins and the Album of the Year trophy that's somehow still missing, and our Dream Collaborator pick — Michael Jackson, and the real recording session with T-Pain that fell apart over one leaked reference track. Listen and watch: https://www.youtube.com/@50_For_50 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/50-for-50-life-music-friendship/id1857746432 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ADmN7bp4fXQzAZsnSuFQj More from the show: https://www.50for50.net/

    Confessions & The Usher Story: A Full Career Deep Dive | 50 For 50

  7. Sep 17

    Best Notorious B.I.G. Songs: From Juicy to Hypnotize | Top 5

    We're ranking Biggie's catalog — but first, our Dream Collaborator: Nas, and the "Gimme the Loot" remix verse that almost happened. Nas was booked for the session and it fell apart for the most Nas reason imaginable — as he told The Breakfast Club in 2020, "I got too high." It's the closest thing hip-hop had to a heavyweight unification match that never got made. From there it's Rock With It or Stop With It, testing whether "Miss U" and "Going Back to Cali" still hold up. Then we get into our Top 5 Biggie songs, with tracks like Hypnotize, Warning, Juicy, Mo Money Mo Problems, Who Shot Ya, I Got a Story to Tell, and Victory all in the conversation as we build our individual lists and defend every pick. Listen and watch: https://www.youtube.com/@50_For_50 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/50-for-50-life-music-friendship/id1857746432 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ADmN7bp4fXQzAZsnSuFQj

    Best Notorious B.I.G. Songs: From Juicy to Hypnotize | Top 5

  8. Sep 15

    Life After Death & The Notorious B.I.G. Story: A Full Career Deep Dive | 50 For 50

    He was an honor-roll kid from Fulton Street who dealt crack out of necessity, got discovered through a magazine column, and became — in a recording career that lasted barely three years — one of the two or three greatest rappers who ever lived. This week we trace the whole arc: Christopher Wallace's Brooklyn origin story and the Source "Unsigned Hype" break that led Puffy Combs to him, the Tupac friendship that curdled into the defining rivalry of '90s hip-hop, the marriage to Faith Evans, the car accident that left him with a cane, and the murder that cut it all short sixteen days before Life After Death hit shelves. Then it's the deep dive on the album itself: the studio stories behind "Hypnotize," "Kick in the Door," "Ten Crack Commandments," and "Notorious Thugs," a track-by-track walk through both discs, and the trivia that still gives us chills — an album cover shot in a graveyard six weeks before his death, the largest jump to No. 1 in Billboard 200 history, and his status as the first artist ever to land two posthumous No. 1 singles. Plus Album Tiers across his full discography, a Grammy Redux on the single most damning stat in the episode (four nominations, zero wins — in life or posthumously), and GG's hot take on what happens to Jay-Z's career if Biggie lives. Listen and watch: https://www.youtube.com/@50_For_50 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/50-for-50-life-music-friendship/id1857746432 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ADmN7bp4fXQzAZsnSuFQj More from the show: https://www.50for50.net/

    Life After Death & The Notorious B.I.G. Story: A Full Career Deep Dive | 50 For 50
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About

Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales have been friends for over 20 years. Their friendship began following each other's music reviews on the now-defunct website, Epinions. In 2026, they officially turn 50 and this podcast is a celebration of their 50 years, and over 20 years as friends. They will choose an album that was released each year from 1976 to 2025 and do a deep dive history and culture podcast episode about it. There will also be other episodes about artists, current music events, music documentaries and movies and more.

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