Praise tha God for being human

My “Renaissance Man” guest this week has a philosophy when he approaches the studio microphone.

“I always try to be the perfect balance of ratchetness and righteousness,” Charlamagne tha God told me. But he said that balance isn’t always possible, so when all else fails, “I just strive to be human.”

The “Breakfast Club” co-host, who also hosts “Tha God’s Honest Truth” on Comedy Central, has been called the Hip-Hop Howard Stern and became famous for his searing commentary about figures in urban culture. But the personality (real name Lenard McKelvey) has undergone a metamorphosis over the last few years that required him to address his vanity, his humanity and his panic attacks.

The South Carolina native told me that he became a “caricature” of himself as he tried to live up to his shock jock personality. But, in the end, he realized he was hurting people he gossiped about and his own family. For example, Charlamagne said he had long criticized Young Thug because they are from different generations and he wasn’t a fan of his music. He didn’t how his shtick hurt the then-budding rapper until Young Thug opened up about it.

“He’s 30 years old, and he’s telling me how much my words hurt him back in the day and how mad he was about it . . . And he was like, ‘Yo, I was a 18-, 19-year-old kid coming out of the ghetto, just trying to figure things out’ . . . I didn’t understand it back then. And it really continued to put things in perspective for me, just like, ‘I don’t want to hurt nobody, man. That’s . . . not my intention.’ ”

At home, his wife Jessica asked, “Who are you?” Trying to keep up with everyone’s perception that he was only an edgy, larger-than-life personality started to mess with his sanity.