Charlamagne tha God | |
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| Born | Lenard Larry McKelvey (1978-06-29)June 29, 1978 (age 47) |
| Occupations |
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| Career | |
| Show | Hell of a Week with Charlamagne tha God The Breakfast Club (co-host) |
| Station | Power 105.1 |
| Time slot | 6–10 a.m. |
| Country | United States |
Lenard Larry McKelvey/ləˈnɑːrdməˈkɛlvi/[1] (born June 29, 1978), known professionally asCharlamagne tha God or simplyCharlamagne, is an American radio host and television presenter. He is a co-host of the nationallysyndicated radio showThe Breakfast Club along withDJ Envy, with whom he was inducted into theRadio Hall of Fame in 2020 for their work on the show. He also hosted the late-night talk showHell of a Week with Charlamagne tha God onComedy Central.
Prior to his work onThe Breakfast Club, he worked as a radio personality for several radio stations and also spent time as second mic onThe Wendy Williams Experience withWendy Williams onVH1. He is the founder of the Black Effect Podcast Network,[2] and was featured onGuy Code,Guy Court andGirl Code. He was also aVJ forThe Week in Jams with DJ Envy and Sofi Green. In 2015, McKelvey began hosting theMTV2 showUncommon Sense.
In theshock jock tradition, one of McKelvey's personal mantras is "bite my tongue for no one";[3] he was called "hip-hop'sHoward Stern" byRolling Stone magazine.[4]
McKelvey was born to Larry Thomas McKelvey, aJehovah's Witness-turned-Muslim,[5] and his wife, an English teacher and Jehovah's Witness,[4][5][6] on June 29, 1978.[7] He grew up inMoncks Corner, South Carolina,[8] where as a teenager he was arrested twice for "possession with intent to distribute"marijuana andcocaine.[9]
When McKelvey was arrested a third time, after being near a (non-fatal) shooting, his father refused to pay his bail money. After 41 days in jail, he asked his mother to pay for bail, at which point his father decided to "give him another chance".[9] After his release, McKelvey began attendingnight school[9] and graduated fromBerkeley High School (in Moncks Corner).[10]
In 2001, McKelvey was accused ofsexual assault after a party. He denied having sexual relations with the accuser and cooperated with the authorities, providingDNA evidence which failed to support the claim that he had had sex with the victim.[11] The sexual assault charges were dropped, and he later pled guilty to amisdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, for which he received three yearsprobation.[12][13]
McKelvey started his career in radio as an intern for Z93 Jamz in Charleston. He also spent time in Columbia with WHXT.[10] He left South Carolina in 2006 to become second mic to radio host Wendy Williams.[10] He devised thestage name of "Charlamagne", derived from his street name as a drug dealer, "Charles," and developed a newpersona based onCharlemagne (aka Charles the Great), who ruled much ofWestern Europecirca 800 A.D.[4] He added "Tha God" because it "sounded cool".[9]
His forward questioning and interviews ofhip hop andR&B artists on radio raised his public profile but also caused rifts between himself and the guests of the show. The show was taken off the air in 2008, and he was laid off.[9]
In 2008, he began hosting the morning show for 100.3 The Beat in Philadelphia. He was fired by the station in 2009, a few days after airing an interview withBeanie Sigel, who had released a track aboutJay-Z, both of whom were former rappers forRoc-A-Fella Records. Speculation in the media was that Jay-Z was behind the firing of McKelvey due to the interview.[14] He returned to Moncks Corner to live with his mother for about a year prior to being offered a position withWWPR-FM to co-hostThe Breakfast Club.[15]
In 2010, McKelvey became a co-host onThe Breakfast Club, alongsideDJ Envy andAngela Yee onWWPR-FM in New York City, along with its national televisionsimulcast onRevolt.[4] The show was started by Power 105.1 to compete with Hot 97, one of the most popular hip-hop morning shows in New York. He was brought in as a co-host due to his radio experience and knowing "how to get to the edge and not go over it".[15] Once part of the show, he gave himself the title "Prime Minister of Pissing People Off, the Architect of Aggravation, and the Ruler of Rubbing People the Wrong Way."[16]
In 2011, McKelvey began serving as a cast member ofGuy Code, a comedy television show onMTV2 that talks about a special code of conduct just for men. The show ended in March 2015. He also starred on the MTV2 showCharlamagne & Friends.[4] He co-hostedMTV New Year's live fromTimes Square in both 2013 and 2014, and in 2015 he was a correspondent for the2015 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show.[17][18][19]
In 2014, he was dubbed "hip-hop'sHoward Stern" byRolling Stone magazine.[4] The following year, he began hostingUncommon Sense with Charlamagne tha God on MTV2.[20][21]
In 2017, his bookBlack Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It, which he called "a self-help guide for the hood,"[3] was published by theSimon & Schuster imprint Touchstone. Steven Kurutz ofThe New York Times gave the book a mostly positive review, describingBlack Privilege as "a street-smart self-help guide" with typically blunt advice offered in eight different principles.[22] The book was ranked sixth in the May 7, 2017,New York Times list of best-selling hardback non-fiction.[23] McKelvey's second book,Shook One: Anxiety Playing Tricks on Me was released on October 23, 2018.[24]
In 2019, he became the host ofEmerging Hollywood, a YouTube series fromThe Hollywood Reporter. On this show, he speaks with Hollywood professionals to discuss various political topics. His past guests on the show includeTrevor Noah andJameela Jamil.[25]
In 2020, McKelvey founded the Black Effect Podcast Network in partnership withiHeartMedia.[2] In August 2020, he and hisBreakfast Club co-hosts,Angela Yee andDJ Envy, were inducted into theRadio Hall of Fame.[26] With fellow MTV2 personalityAndrew Schulz, he hostsThe Brilliant Idiots podcast onCombat Jack'sLoud Speakers Network.[27][28]
McKelvey became the host of the late-night talk showTha God's Honest Truth in 2021.[29]
In 2024, he released the bookGet Honest or Die Lying: Why Small Talk Sucks.
He is married to his high school sweetheart, Jessica Gadsden, afitness coach andpersonal trainer who supported him financially when he struggled to maintain a job in radio. In 2021, he explained: "Literally, the first time I ever went to a radio station to fill out an application for an internship, my wife drove me because my license was suspended."[30][31]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | This Thing of Ours | Shottah | Short |
| 2017 | Grow House | Black Jesus | |
| Bodied | Hunnid Gramz | ||
| 2018 | Canal Street | Himself | |
| The After Party | Himself | ||
| 2021 | Boogie | Patrick | [32] |
| TBA | King of the South† | Marvin Miller | [33] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Wendy Williams Experience | Himself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host |
| 2011-15 | Guy Code | Himself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host |
| 2012 | MTV's Hip Hop POV | Himself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host |
| 2012-13 | The Week in Jams | Himself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host |
| 2014 | Charlamagne & Friends | Himself/Host | Main Host |
| Bethenny | Himself/Panelist | Episode: "Episode #2.125" | |
| The Challenge: After Show | Himself | Episode: "ChallengeMania: Superfan Edition" | |
| Landing in Mumbai | Spirit Guide | Recurring Cast: Season 3 | |
| 2015 | Catfish: The TV Show | Himself | Episode: "Miracle & Javonni" |
| 2015-16 | The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore | Himself/Panelist | Episode: "Episode #1.150" & "#2.79" |
| Uncommon Sense with Charlamagne | Himself/Host | Main Host | |
| 2015-19 | Empire | Himself | Guest Cast: Season 2-3 & 6 |
| 2017 | The Breaks | Himself | Episode: "Blind Alley" |
| Ridiculousness | Himself | Episode: "Charlamagne tha God" | |
| SafeWord | Himself | Episode: "Charlamagne tha God vs. Amber Rose" | |
| 2018 | Uncensored | Himself | Episode: "Charlamagne tha God" |
| Hip Hop Squares | Himself/Panelist | Recurring Panelist: Season 5 | |
| Catfish: Trolls | Himself/Host | Main Host | |
| The Talk | Himself/Guest Co-Host | Episode: "Episode #8.182" | |
| Queen Sugar | Himself | Episode: "Delicate and Strangely Made" | |
| 2019 | Surviving R. Kelly | Himself | Episode: "Black Girls Matter" |
| Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men | Himself | Episode: "101" | |
| The Next Big Thing | Himself/Judge | Episode: "Episode #1.1" | |
| Growing Up Hip Hop: New York | Himself | Episode: "Face the Fyre" | |
| Untold Stories of Hip Hop | Himself | Recurring Guest | |
| First Wives Club | Himself | Episode: "One Night Only" | |
| 2020 | Tooning Out the News | Himself | Episode: "Episode #1.32" |
| Dave | Himself | Recurring Cast: Season 1 | |
| 2021 | Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union | Himself | Episode: "Episode #1.2" |
| Queens | Himself (voice) | Episode: "Behind the Throne" | |
| 2021-22 | Hell of a Week with Charlamagne tha God | Himself/Host | Main Host |
| 2022 | That Damn Michael Che | Himself | Episode: "Black Mediocrity" |
| Murder Inc Records Docu-series | Himself | Main Guest | |
| Celebrity Game Face | Himself/Contestant | Episode: "Saweetie Gets Spicy" | |
| 2023 | Soul of a Nation | Himself | Episode: "Hip Hop @ 50: Rhythms, Rhymes & Reflections" |
| Black Pop: Celebrating the Power of Black Culture | Himself | [34] | |
| Welcome to Rap City | Himself | Recurring Guest | |
| The Daily Show | Himself/Host | Recurring Host: Season 28 | |
| Bupkis | Priest | Episode: "Show Me the Way" | |
| The Muppets Mayhem | Himself | Episode: "Track 9: Drift Away" |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Kiss & Tail: The Hollywood Jumpoff | |
| 2014 | Knifed Up | |
| 2018 | Black, White & Blue | |
| 2024 | In the Bubble with Jaime | Producer[35] |
| Year | Song | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | "Choices (Yup)" | E-40 |
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