We rank Madonna's greatest songs — Vogue, Into the Groove, Papa Don't Preach, Dress You Up, and more — in this week's Top 5. Plus: Rock With It or Stop With It on five more Madonna classics. This week on The Top 5: we're ranking Madonna's catalog. Our Top 5…
Forty-plus years in, Madonna is still the artist every pop star gets measured against — and this episode is about how she pulled that off. On this LIVE episode of 50 for 50, hosts Garrett Gonzales and Mike Joseph use Confessions on a Dance Floor, her 2005 comeback album, as…
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Before A Seat at the Table made her one of the most acclaimed artists of the 2010s, Solange was writing hit songs for her sister's albums, briefly filling in as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, and getting married at 17. On this LIVE episode of 50 for 50, hosts…
Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales run down George Michael's real collaboration history — Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Queen, Whitney Houston, and more — then debate the artists he never got to work with but should have: Amy Winehouse, Stevie Wonder, and Janet Jackson. In this clip: - The real George…
Garrett Gonzales and Mike Joseph each build their Top 5 George Michael songs of all time — pulling from the solo catalog and the Wham! years alike — then run a "Rock With It, Stop With It" round on deep cuts from both catalogs, and close with a real conversation…
Before George Michael was the leather-jacketed solo superstar behind Faith, he was a shy kid in Hertfordshire who got taken under the wing of a classmate named Andrew Ridgeley. On this episode of 50 for 50, hosts Garrett Gonzales and Mike Joseph trace the whole arc — from a teenage…
Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales each build their Top 5 Justin Timberlake songs of all time — pulling from across the whole solo catalog, from Justified through Man of the Woods — then debate the tracks that just missed the cut and name their favorite *NSYNC song for good measure.…
Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez left *NSYNC as co-lead singers with equal shots at solo stardom. Only one became a global superstar. On this episode of 50 for 50, hosts Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales trace Timberlake's full solo career — from Justified to Man of the Woods — and…
Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales rank their five favorite Wu-Tang Clan songs of all time — pulling from the group's catalog and the members' solo careers — then catch up on what RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa are doing more than 30 years…
Wu-Tang Clan turned a $60,000 record deal into nine separate solo careers spread across eight different labels — and it all started with Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). On this episode of 50 for 50, hosts Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales break down RZA's legendary Five-Year Plan, the business genius…
Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales talk about their love of physical media — vinyl records for both of them, and 4K DVDs for Garrett. They get into why owning beats licensing, how physical purchases send a bigger cut to the artist, and vinyl's comeback in recent years. Physical media, vinyl…
Six days after coming out on Tumblr, Frank Ocean dropped Channel Orange and rewrote the rules of R&B. On this episode of 50 for 50, we trace Christopher Breaux's journey from a Subway sandwich maker to a Grammy-winning genre-bender — the Odd Future years, the Bieber and Jay-Z/Kanye writing credits,…
Garrett and Mike rank their top five favorite Boyz II Men songs — and it gets debatable fast. "On Bended Knee," "Motownphilly," "Water Runs Dry," "Please Don't Go," and "Thank You in Advance" all make the list. Plus we play Rock With It / Stop With It on "End of…
They're the best-selling R&B group of all time, and just finished being out on the road with New Edition and Toni Braxton on The New Edition Way Tour. We're doing a Cool Check-In on Boyz II Men — covering their origin story, the Michael McCary situation (going from four to…
Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales go head-to-head on their Top 5 favorite A Tribe Called Quest songs of all time — and they don't agree on everything. From the explosive closing verse on "Scenario" to the jazz-soaked groove of "Check the Rhime," the politically charged punch of "We The People,"…
A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory didn't just top best-of lists — it rewired what hip-hop was allowed to sound like. On this episode of 50 for 50, we break down one of the most important albums in music history: ATCQ's 1991 masterpiece, The Low End Theory. Q-Tip,…
What are the greatest Brandy songs ever recorded? Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales go song-by-song and put their rankings on the line. First up: a Rock With It/Stop With It round forcing hard choices on two of Brandy's biggest — "The Boy Is Mine" and "Baby." Then the full Top…
Brandy Norwood's memoir PHASES is finally here — and we're breaking down her full story, all seven studio albums, and the legacy of one of R&B's greatest voices. From a church choir in McComb, Mississippi to signing with Atlantic Records at 14, becoming the first Black Cinderella on screen, dropping…
What are the greatest Luther Vandross songs ever recorded? Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales go song-by-song and put their rankings on the line. First up: a Rock With It/Stop With It game that forces hard choices on cuts like "Power of Love/Love Power," "Here and Now," and "Superstar." Then they…
Luther Vandross didn't just sing — he transformed a song into a feeling. We're diving deep into Never Too Much, the 1981 debut album that launched one of the greatest voices in R&B history, and tracing every chapter of his career that followed. Before Luther was a solo star, he…
New Kids on the Block changed pop music forever — and Garrett and Mike are breaking down the full story from Boston to the blockbuster comeback. In this episode of The Cool Check-In, we cover the NKOTB origin story, how Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Danny Wood, and Jon…
#50For50 #MusicHistory #MusicPodcast #TurningFifty #AlbumDeepDive #MusicReflection #50thbirthday Both Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales have officially hit 50 — and we're celebrating with the most personal Cool Check-In yet. We look back on the first 20 episodes of 50 For 50, the music history podcast where two lifelong friends dig into…
#WhitneyHouston #Top5Songs #MusicReview #50For50 #Diva 🎤 What Are the Absolute Best Whitney Houston Songs of All Time? In this episode of 50 For 50, Mike Joseph and Garrett Gonzales count down their definitive Whitney Houston Top 5 tracks and debate her legendary musical legacy. From infectious 80s dance-pop anthems to…