Phat Phillie (Blackout Hip Hop)
When it comes to Croatian hip-hop, there’s only one name and one crew you need to remember…
Phat Phillie is a resident DJ (and promoter) of some of Zagreb’s coolest monthly events, held at the city’s urban nightspots such as Peti Kupe, Pločnik & Aquarius... These events hosted sold-out shows by artists such as Redman & Method Man, Busta Rhymes, DJ Premier, Jazzy Jeff, De La Soul, OC and Big L (R.I.P.), Naughty By Nature, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, The Brand New Heavies, Big Daddy Kane, Souls Of Mischief to name a few.
Phillie got into hip-hop way back in 1984. after hearing UTFO’s Roxanne Roxanne on Zagreb’s legendary station Radio 101 and watching classic films such as Beat Street, Wild Style and Breakin’.
Following a brief stay in the US in the summer of 1991 he met DJ Frx with whom he co-hosted Blackout Rap Show since 1993, Croatia’s number one rated hip-hop radio show. To mark the show’s 10th anniversary, they released a double vinyl: Blackout 10 (The Best Of Hip-Hop), a compilation of the most important tracks released by artists from Croatia’s richly diverse and exceptionally creative hip-hop scene. In 1996 Phillie started Croatia's Zulu Nation chapter and made a move to London, UK to further make his connections in the Hip-Hop game.
Phillie has DJ-ed not only in Croatia & the region, but also in New York (Toca Tuesdays), Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Holland, Bulgaria and Russia... He has also penned articles for a number of the world’s leading hip-hop magazines including Backspin (Germany), DJ Mag (UK), The Source (US) and interviewed artists such as 50 Cent, N.O.R.E., Wu-Tang Clan, Ice-T, Nile Rodgers (Chic), Onyx, DJ Premier... Phillie can even be heard in a skit on the Dilated Peoples classic debut LP 'The Platform'.
In 2009. Phillie co-founded BlackoutHipHop.com that was recently voted top 100 Hip-Hop Blogs / websites in the world. In 2015 Red Bull & MTV Adria produced a full length documentary called 'Stani Na Put' profiling Phat Phillie's Hip-Hop crew 'Blackout' as well as other two important Rap organizations in the ex Yugoslavia region. He is also a frequent panelist at music conferences such as New Skool Rules (Rotterdam), Nova Scotia Music Week (Canada) and Northern Power Summit (Toronto). Recently, Phillie started a non profit organization called 'Balkan Loves Dilla' (overseen by Ma' Dukes) with his colleagues from Valjevo, Serbia & Skopje, Macedonia preserving the life & legacy of one of Hip-Hop's best producers, the great, late J Dilla.
One of Phillie's biggest en-devours was Croatia's only Hip - Hop festival, Fresh Island, held at the famous Zrce beach on the Island Of Pag. Snoop Dogg, KRS-One, Red & Meth, Rick Ross, A$AP Rocky, Nas, Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, Migos, Sean Paul, French Montana, Burna Boy, Mobb Deep, J Hus and many more performed at the festival beetwen 2012-2022.
2025 UPDATE: Phillie celebrated his 30 years in the game by throwing a succesful Hip Hop exhibition called "Memory Lane" (and the memorabilia book of the same name) and is in the process of opening up a Hip-Hop Museum and cultural center. Alongside his longtime partner DJ Frx, he will re-release their 'Blackout Project' album from 1997, never released on vinyl. During Covid lockdown Phillie has also completed a compilation with unreleased songs from Zagreb's lost Hip-Hop generation called 'Zagreb Rap Demo (1985-1992)' that recently dropped on 2LP/Tape/DSP's on Phillie's own Blackout label in collaboration with Dallas Records. The record went number one and was most sold release in Croatia in the week of May 12-18, 2025. He also works as a consultant for Berlin's 90's Tapes / HHV Records helping reissue some of the golden 90's Hip-Hop gemz such as Al' Tariq 'God Connections', Real Live 'The Turnaround', B.U.M.S. 'Lyfe 'n' Time', Hard Knocks, O.C., Mad Skillz, Jamal, Da Mexakinz, Yaggfu Front, Original Flavor and many more to come. With partners from France, Portugal and Belgium his Blackout Hip-Hop association is spearheading an 18 month long international EU funded program called "She Raps", educating, helping and developing female MC's from the Balkan region.
