It's 5:30 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, and the crew behind Power 98's "No Limit Larry and the Morning Maddhouse" show is flipping through newspapers and surfing the Web in search of stories that will catch their listeners' attention. This is a typical morning for the Maddhouse. While many of us are deep in the REM phase of sleep, they're up prepping for the day's show.

• ANgus Lamond
• FOUR-PLAY: The Morning Maddhouse crew (clockwise) – Church Boy, Tone X, No Limit Larry and J.D.

With a hint of sleep in his voice, Larry Mims, known to Power 98 (aka WPEG, 97.9-FM, "Charlotte's No. 1 for Blazin' Hip-Hop and R&B") listeners as No Limit Larry, is walking around the studio rapping a mixture of Young Jeezy, Jay-Z and the Shop Boyz. This is his morning ritual. No coffee. No doughnuts. No Red Bull. Just hip-hop, straight up. This is how he earned the title in the clubs and in the streets as the Carolina's Crunkest DJ -- because even at 5:30 a.m. he's all the way live. "No Limit keeps it crunk ... all the time," says Maddhouse co-host, Janine "J.D." Davis. "He's always rapping -- from the time he comes in the studio to the time he leaves."

J.D. on the other hand, is a bit more reserved when she comes to work, or as the Maddhouse's in-house comedian Tone X puts it, "She's down right persnickety." And No Limit adds, "You can normally tell what type of night J.D. had by the way she comes in the studio. If she had a good night, she's smiling. If she had a bad night, she takes it out on us."

While No Limit and J.D.'s morning moods lay at opposite extremes, Tone X's mood rests somewhere in the middle ... or at least that's what he'd like to think. "I'm a morning person because I used to be in the military and am used to getting up early," says Tone, implying that he's the most even-tempered in the group. But of course No Limit and J.D., who are known for cracking on everybody (and their mamas), aren't going to let him get by with that one. "Tone is very temperamental, especially if he and his girlfriend had a falling out," says J.D. "He just won't talk ... he'll go to the back and moan about it."

The way the Maddhouse puts each other on blast is reminiscent of siblings who playfully bicker back and forth all day. But while No Limit, J.D. and Tone may be like brothers and sisters, Church Boy, the co-producer and fourth member of the Maddhouse, is like a cousin who comes over every now and then to put in his two cents worth. In other words, spending time with the Maddhouse is like spending time with the typical American family -- they're a little dysfunctional, but it's nothing but love.

"A little dysfunctional? We're a lot dysfunctional," says No Limit. "We're like a bunch of kids living in a house by ourselves."

"And we don't know who the daddy is," J.D. adds.

But somewhere in the midst of their dysfunction, the Maddhouse team discovered a formula for success that has won them numerous awards and made the show the No. 1 urban morning radio show in the Carolinas. "I think our show is successful because of the chemistry we have off the air, as well as on," says J.D. "People can feel that."

No Limit agrees with that, but also has his own theories as to why their show is so popular -- because of its realness. "I go to the barbershop ... the beauty shop ... it's fresh in there all day because it's not sugar-coated," he says. "That's where I come up with my ideas ... from people in the community."

It's now 5:45 a.m., five minutes before "No Limit and the Morning Maddhouse" goes live. This is when things start to get interesting. They all take their places. J.D. gets her laptop set up so she can surf the Web during the show to keep listeners current with what's happening in entertainment. Church Boy grabs a spot at the mic to sit-in with the crew during the first few minutes of the show before he dashes into the control room to make sure everything runs smoothly on the technical side. And No Limit and Tone slide into their chairs, put on their headphones and get ready for the ride.

They all seem at ease behind the mic. But then again after years of working in the industry, this is undoubtedly natural to them now. They all have tales to tell about how they landed their current gig.

No Limit got his start while working at the campus radio station as a student at Johnson C. Smith University. The Charlotte native then took what he learned and got an internship at Power 98 with former afternoon host Nate Quick. From there he landed a position as producer of the afternoon drive air shift, and shortly after graduating with a bachelor's in communications, Power 98 offered him a position as co-host of the "Afternoon Zoo Crew" and later as host of the evening show called "The Battleground." With years invested at Power 98 and consistently high ratings, it was a natural fit for him to get the highly sought-after position of morning host.

• Angus Lamond
• SURF'S UP: No Limit Larry (left) and Tone X scan the Web and yuck it up.

J.D., a graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, started her career as an assistant editor and morning show producer at WGHP-TV in High Point. She later branched off into radio as news and public affairs director at 102 Jamz in Greensboro before honing her radio skills as an afternoon anchor and reporter for WRAL in Raleigh. She eventually moved to Charlotte and hosted the nationally syndicated "Tom Joyner Morning Show" on WBAV before becoming a producer/co-host of "The Breakfast Brothas Show" on Power 98. The skills she learned there landed her the position as co-host of "No Limit Larry and the Morning Maddhouse."

Church Boy followed a similar path of No Limit and J.D., breaking into radio through internships and on-the-job experience, while Tone X took a completely different track. The comedian got his break after winning an open mic night at the Comedy Zone, which lead to a host of local and national comedy gigs. His stand-up experience paved the way to a position at Power 98 as a morning show co-host and his spot on the Maddhouse.

After nearly four years of working together, they have built-in confidence with one another. No one worries about taking off their headphones and leaving the room to take an emergency phone call because they know their co-hosts will pick up the slack and the show will go on.

It's a little after 6 a.m., and the show is warming up as listeners start calling in. This morning, a caller the Maddhouse crew refers to as "Eye Witness News" calls in to let them know that a local Burger King just got robbed. Long-time caller Tawanda calls in to give her two-cents on the day's topic: "The best advice your father gave you about men." But before her comments make the air, No Limit gets the lowdown on what's going on in her life, finds out she's still on the grind at Chick-fil-A and dishes out some advice on what she should do career-wise. "You should think about getting a franchise with them," he says. "You can make some serious money doing that."

Angelica, a high school listener, calls in to let them know what she's up to this summer, and the Maddhouse crew offer her words of encouragement.

They have a few favorite callers who sprinkle the show with their off-the-charts personalities. There's Mean Mother, who is like the real-life version of Martin Lawrence's character in the movie Big Mama; Pittscinnati from Cincinnati, who puts his own spin on everything the Maddhouse says; JR Lockheart and a whole crew of high school students who listen to the show faithfully. "The callers become as much a part of the show as we are," says No Limit. "If we don't hear from them in a while, we'll miss them and be like, 'Dang, where he at?' Especially with the high school callers because you get connected to them and start to feel like they're your brother or sister."

And since the Maddhouse counts its listeners as part of their extended family, they want them to walk away with something at the end of each show. "We don't want it to be all buffoonery," says Tone. "We want to make people think."

J.D. agrees. "We want our show to be a learning experience," she said. "We want you to laugh, to cry ... we don't just tell jokes, we deal with serious topics as well."

Finding middle ground between keeping the show light and dealing with serious issues affecting the community, however, can often be a tough balancing act. Many listeners tune in for the silly banter that takes places between the hosts -- but that's also what makes some people tune out.

"There's always people who say we talk too much," says No Limit. "They say I'm too loud, J.D.'s too opinionated, and Tone's not funny. But as long as the positive outweighs the negative, then it's all good."

Terri Avery, program director for Power 98, says she doesn't hear much negativity about the Maddhouse. But, the way she sees it, if the streets are talking, that means people are listening. "A lot of people may be saying this and saying that," she says, "but they're steadily listening and they can repeat everything that Larry says verbatim."

While the conversations that occur between the Maddhouse cast takes up the bulk of the show's four hours, the music also plays a part. But, in a time when urban music -- specifically hip-hop -- is under the microscope by the media and conservative groups for its often degrading images of women and glamorization of violence and drugs, the Maddhouse is aware that some listeners may switch stations just because of that. "There is some negativity associated with the music that we play, but people don't have to listen to the music, they can just listen to the show," says No Limit. "People have to understand that some of the stuff that these artists talk about in their songs is stuff that has happened to them. It's real life for some of them."

Avery notes that Power 98 tries not to play music that listeners may find overly offensive. "The community really keeps us focused on what they want to hear," she says. "We aren't playing songs that are talking about bitches and 'hoes' ... we try to screen all of our songs for that."

With the show in high gear as it heads into the 7 a.m. hour, the Maddhouse looks as if waking up at 4 a.m. is beginning to take a toll on them. During the commercial break, Tone reaches for an energy bar. No Limit is looking out the window, rapping something that's inaudible. Church Boy is still in the control room. And, J.D., a true multitasker, is busy surfing the Web, which she's been doing on and off since they've been on the air. "I have highs and lows with sleepiness," says J.D. "When the mic comes on, I'm on, but when it's off I'm [zoned out]."

This is the Maddhouse that listeners don't get to see: the quieter side. But it doesn't last long. Tone gets up and walks over to the window next to No Limit and starts doing a dance that looks like a hybrid of krumping and the Percolator. He almost falls and everyone in the studio starts laughing. It's moments like these when you can see why their show works -- because they genuinely like each other. At some offices you can cut the tension with a knife. You wonder if the guy in the cubicle next to you is going to go postal and shoot up the place. Not here. The way they interact is more like they're family, not co-workers. "I love the people I work with," says Tone. "As long as I have good people around me I can do this all day."

What many people may not know about the Maddhouse crew is that they spend a considerable amount of time representing Power 98 in the community. While they're on the air from 5:50 a.m. to 10 a.m., that's not the end of their workday. "I think that's the misconception people have about radio personalities," J.D. says. "[They think] we're on the air for four hours and then 'BAM,' we're done for the day. But that is not the case."

Before the Maddhouse can officially call it quits for the day, they have a laundry list of things to do: post-production meetings to evaluate the day's show and prepare for the next day; at least 100-150 school appearances a year, where they read with students and tell them about the radio industry; year-round work with local organizations such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Salvation Army Women's Shelter to help raise money and awareness for their causes; and the list goes on and on. "When you look at our station compared to others, we do the most as far as being out in the community," says No Limit. "As a morning show, we try to change lives."

That desire to change lives goes beyond their responsibilities at Power 98 and is carried over into their personal lives with their individual non-profit organizations.

J.D. is the founder of Girl Talk Foundation Inc., which serves as a support network for young girls ages 11-16, empowering them to become leaders. Since J.D. started the organization, more than 1,500 girls have participated in the program. "Sometimes I feel like I'm being pulled in two different directions," says J.D. of juggling the responsibilities of working at Power 98 with running Girl Talk. "But it's all serving the same core audience, which is young people. So at the end of the day, the craziness becomes worth it."

Tone created the Tone X Extended Family, which focuses on delivering meals to senior citizens. The program has proved to be so successful that Tone is planning to extend it to also focus on young black men in need.

And No Limit started his own non-profit, C.O.M.P. (Children of Murdered Parents) to help young people in the community dealing with grief and to encourage them to strive for greatness.

Once the show is over and they go their separate ways, the lives they live off-air are not that much different from the one's they live on-air. Their lives are fast-paced and filled to the rim with work and play. (They work in one of the rare professions where the lines get blurred.) "My day is packed from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed," says No Limit. "Whether I'm dealing with my family, my non-profit, planning my next big event or dealing with club promoters, I have a full day."

With such a hectic schedule, you would think the Madhouse crew would be ready to pull their hair out, but that's not the case. "I learned a while back that when you're fulfilling your purpose you don't even realize that you're doing it," says J.D. "We do this so effortlessly, and it doesn't even feel like work. There's some people [who] are in jobs just to get the paycheck, but this is a job I would do for free."