Hiljson Mandela

Ivan Hilje (born 15 September 1992), better known under his stage name Hiljson Mandela, is a Croatian rapper and singer-songwriter, and also a member of a hip hop trio KUKU$.

Hiljson Mandela
Birth nameIvan Hilje
Born (1992-09-15) September 15, 1992 (age 32)
Zagreb, Croatia
Genres
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • singer-songwriter
Years active2008–present
Labelsyem
Member of

He is a son of Croatian opera singer Diana Hilje and showed his interest in music at an early age. In 2008, aged 16, he founded an alternative-rock band called Prazna Lepinja, sang and played a saxophone. In 2013, the band released their first studio album Danasutra.

Alongside his two friends from childhood – Ivan Godina (better known as Goca R.I.P.), Mislav Kljenak (Iso Miki) and three former members, who later left – he founded a trap-based band KUKU$, which made them a pioneers of the same genre in Croatia.

In May 2022, he released his first solo studio album – Mandela Effect, which soon gained popularity in Croatia and regionally, especially because of viral songs such as "Cura S Kvarta" (translated as "A Girl From the Block"), "Mbappé", "McLaren" (recorded in collaboration with Serbian rapper and singer Rasta), "Neće K***c" (with Croatian rapper Grše), "Lova" (translated as "Cash") and others.

He won his first Cesarica award for collaboration with Croatian singer Zsa Zsa for their single "Ova Ljubav" ("This Love") for 2020.[1] In 2022, he got a nomination for collaboration with Miach on her single "NLO", which became his second nomination for that award.[2] In February 2023, he got the prize Zlatni Studio as "one of the best new names on the Croatian music scene".

Discography

Singles

Title Year Peak
chart positions 		Album
CRO
Billb.

[3]

HR Top 40

[4]

„Dona flores” (featuring Tone Tuoro) 2015 [a] Non-album singles
„Žene gazele”
(High5 featuring Hiljson Mandela) 		—
„Katy Perry”
(High5 featuring Hiljson Mandela) 		—
„95” (featuring Klinac) 2019 —
„Tu sam” (featuring Vekac) —
„Zvijezde”
(Zembo Latifa featuring Hiljson Mandela) 		2020 —
„Bebica” —
„Ova ljubav”
(Zsa Zsa featuring Hiljson Mandela) 		2
„Bog zna” (with Stoka) 2021 —
„NLO”
(Miach featuring Hiljson Mandela) 		2022 — 6 Između nas
„Cura s kvarta” 21 19 Mandela Effect
„Ankaran” (featuring Biba) 2024 1 37 Non-album singles
„7 Ujutro” 2024 18 10
"Anđeo" (from Sram)
(with Miach) 		2024 1 1
"—" indicates that a single didn't enter the chart

Notes

  1. ^ Billboard chart Croatia Songs was launched on 15 February 2022.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Gloria - Dobili najviše glasova publike ikad: Zsa Zsa i Hiljson Mandela dobili Cesaricu za Hit godine!". www.gloria.hr (in Croatian). 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  2. ^ "Miach Feat Hiljson Mandela – NLO – Cesarica – Hit godine". 2022-12-05. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  3. ^ Highest positions for Croatia(Billboard):
  4. ^ Highest positions for Croatia(HR Top 40):
  5. ^ "Billboard objavio top listu za Hrvatsku" [Billboard Published a New Chart for Croatia]. Večernji list (in Croatian). 16 February 2022. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2024.