died. When he died everyone turned on me. All the diehard Michael Jackson fans hate Ralphige now. What’s your opinion on Dr. Murray’s conviction? I think he should’ve just lost his license, not been convicted of anything. But just because of the fact that Michael died in his hands, I think the sentence he’s gonna get of 3-4 years is appropriate. But at the same time, Michael Jackson killed himself. And I said this even before the defense brought it up as their defense. He would take that [Propofol] every night, and one night he woke up and he was pissed off because Dr. Murray wasn’t there, so he saw the [IV] right there, pushed it in himself, and gave himself too big of a dose. A COMEDIAN IN HIS OWN RIGHT, MIAMI PrANK CALLER RALPHIGE HAS FOOLED THE LIKES OF FAT JOE, LIL KIM, BIG BOI, YOUNG BUCK, SUGE KNIGHT, AND CHRIS BROWN - BUT HIS CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT WAS PRANK CALLING MICHAEL JACKSON. How did you get the idea to prank call celebrities? I’ve always had the ability to get all these [celebrities’] phone numbers and a lot of inside information. I never knew what to do with it. I was really young so all I could do was prank call ‘em. They didn’t expect it. How did you have access to those numbers? I’ve revealed my source before but people don’t believe me. They think it’s crazy, but the truth is, I’m able to dream up these numbers. I just see them pop up everywhere. Can you dream lottery numbers? That might be more profitable. I cannot, no. I’ve tried. At first I thought they were lottery numbers so I tried playing them at the lottery but I had no luck. Once I realized they were ten digits like phone numbers, I thought I’d go ahead and dial ‘em. Who was the first celebrity that you called? Back in ’07 I believe it was Scott Storch. Scott Storch and DJ Khaled were the first two. When you strike one of these rappers’ egos, they don’t let it go. The Michael Jackson call was pretty controversial. Some people didn’t believe it was really him, and other people felt like you were wrong for crank calling him. In the beginning everyone loved it. I was the king of crank calls for being able to prank Michael Jackson. Everyone loved it, until he 20 // OZONE MAG
Have any of your prank calls gone too far and really caused some serious trouble? Everybody’s taken the joke well. I make sure to let them know right after [the prank call] that it was a joke. I contact them immediately afterwards and make sure we’re cool. Has anyone not wanted their calls released? Yeah, I’ve had a lot of people ask me not to release their calls. There are some which I’ve released anyway and some which I’ve suppressed. One of the biggest prank calls [I never released] was Jay-Z. I prank called him and he didn’t want it released. I guess he felt like he had nothing to gain from it. [The call] actually wasn’t very controversial at all; it was kind of disrespectful to him and Beyonce though. This was before they were actually “dating.” Do people know what you look like? I’m not undercover, but I’ve never been after the fame so I’ve never released my face or tried to get any attention. I’m not trying to get press at all. I can definitely walk down the street and look bummy in chancletas or sandals and shorts like Jay-Z says and not be recognized. Where are your prank calls available? They’re available on iTunes and on ralphige. com. You can also check out michaeljacksonprankcall.com. That’s made me a crank call legend. Nobody can ever take that crown from me. I have a lot of crank calls I haven’t released yet – Floyd Mayweather, Paula Abdul, Ellen Degeneres, all A-List celebrities coming soon. Is there anything else you’d like to say? Jesus Christ is the greatest. // Twitter: @Ralphige Web: Ralphige.com