Croatian rapper
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$.
He is a son of Croatian opera singer Diana Hilje and showed his interest in music at an early age. In 2008, aged 16, he founded an alternative-rock band called Prazna Lepinja, sang and played a saxophone. In 2013, the band released their first studio album "Danasutra."
Alongside his two friends from childhood – Ivan Godina (better known as Goca R.I.P.), Mislav Kljenak (Iso Miki) and three former members, who later left – he founded a trap-based band KUKU$, 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. In 2022, he got a nomination for collaboration with Miach on her single "NLO", which became his second nomination for that award. In February 2023, he got the prize "Zlatni Studio" as "one of the best new names on the Croatian music scene".