OLD NEWS: FLO RIDA'S PHONE NUMBER HAS BEEN CALLED BY HIPHOSSIP FOR MONTHS BEFORE CNN ANNOUNCEMENT.

In an attempt to reach his fan base on a more intimate level, the Floridian rapper has made his personal cell phone number public.

But Hiphossip was the FIRST he told that to last year June 2008. He has the number posted prominently on his MySpace since May 2008 and I call him frequently on it. Now that it's all over CNN, try getting a response.

"If they can go out and buy my albums, I can at least make the sacrifice to holler at the few people who call," he says. "A lot of times I'm busy so they'll get my voice mail. And if I can speak to them and I have time, I always text back. Because I think that's very important."

To prove that the number he shared on camera during our interview was the real deal, he showed CNN his iPhone. The device was on overdrive, constantly lighting up and vibrating with an influx of texts and calls.

"Yo this is your boy Flo Rida," he said to one caller. "What's your name? What's good?"

But it was too much for the person on the other end -- he or she hung up before uttering a response.

He keeps two phones of course. The main phone and the fan phone. I used to do that for my fans back in Africa.