Filip Filipi

My name is Filip Filipi and I’m a rapper, producer and songwriter. I started doing music about 5 and half years ago and I have released 13 mix albums and I’m currently working on my debut album. I was born in Serbia but have spent the majority of my life living in Canada. I also think Colonel Gaddafi has an impeccable sense of style.

The first causalities of the war actually took place in my town. I remember it very well. It was winter and snowy. My father and I were taking our neighbour’s dog for a walk, I remember it was a German Shepard, when we heard automatic gunfire nearby and immediately headed back. I remember being mad we had to go home so soon. We lived in a rural area so I was pretty much around guns my whole life but that memory stands out to me because it was the first time I witnessed guns used to inflict death. I was much too young to understand the complexities of why the war was happening and my mom’s side of the family all lived in Belgrade so it wasn’t that unusual to leave and go stay with them. However, right before we left I remember the atmosphere was a lot more tense and there were columns of tanks and armoured vehicles all over our town and surrounding areas so I could sense a certain urgency to get out.

To be fair even before the injury I had an uphill battle to make a good university team because I wasn’t allowed to play during my senior year due to some behavioural issues. The year before that I developed some weird allergic reaction the morning of the BC provincial team tryouts. The reason it was weird was the medicine which I was allergic to I started taking 3 weeks before and I woke up that morning and couldn’t walk. The final injury, which was me breaking my thumb throwing a snowball, was the final straw. Even though I loved basketball my whole life, I realized God, for some reason didn’t want me to pursue it. It was really hard. I remember there was a year I didn’t know what to do. I have a really obsessive personality so basketball was everything I did. When I finally got into music it filled that vacuum and it made me productive again. I applied that same obsession to music so the way I see it now is it was all meant to happen.

I don’t think I’ve reached any great heights, but the success I did manage to achieve I’d probably credit to the obsessive work ethic. For example, out of the 200 plus songs I made so far about 20 were quality and managed to generate some buzz. So for me it’s much more to do with persistence than some great talent. I’ve also had some big collaborations and placements on some major TV shows like SYTYCD. I market pretty hard and have the luxury of having a English and Serbian speaking fan base. To be honest I think I’m much better at marketing than rapping and I’m exploring that as a alternate career path.

It’s important because it’s absolutely instrumental in promotion which leads to generating income. I’ll give you an example, ‘Boom’ which you mentioned, I personally hate. However it has something like 5 million views on YouTube. While ‘Mandolins Cry’ and ‘Blood in My Eyes’ which I put my heart and soul into have about 150,000 combined. Why? Because they don’t feature a household name. Some of the people I have collaborated with I truly am a fan of, like Collie Buddz and Opera Steve for example. Some other artists like Mickey Avalon, who I worked with on another STYCD track, I don’t listen to, to put it kindly.

Mandolins Cry is very dear to me because it’s dedicated to my grandmother who passed in 2007. I did the chorus in Serbian and so far it’s the only song I sang in Serbian. The message behind it is about me missing my grandma but because she’s from Kosovo and during that time the Albanians were ethnic cleansing the remaining Serbs from there, I touch on some political issues as well. Both my grandmothers are from places where Serbs were cleansed from, and to me in some way they embody the struggle. It’s my favourite song to date and I always put my favourite song as number 5 on my CDs and that song will be number 5 on my album.

I always remember no matter how bad things get, time will pass and then it will get better. No matter how hopeless a situation or a period in your life may seem the brightness of day will eventually come. I believe every experience and ordeal has its own purpose and makes you wiser and stronger. It also helps prepare you for a situation which will come at some point in your future, so when it does occur you will handle it better.

It will pass and make you a better person when it’s over. Everything during your youth is magnified and seems much worse than it really is. You need to stay true to your values and be thankful for the positive things in your life. No matter how bad it gets never forget there is always someone who had it worse and overcame, and if they can do it so can you. So turn that frown upside down!

I’m fortunate that I have a really supportive family and making them proud is a major source of motivation. I strongly believe in God and I find a lot of my hope in Him. I believe I was given some natural ability and luck in my life and I feel I would let down my family if I didn’t try my best to live up to my potential. I want to clarify that when I say potential I don’t mean potential to be rich or famous, but rather to be a good person and help others and stand up for what I know is right even when everyone might not agree. Those characteristics to me compose a complete human being.

I have Aviophobia. My favourite food is spaghetti. My favourite color is olive green. My favourite animal is a bear and if you wish to keep up with my bizarre rants and sometimes enjoyable music you may keep up with me on FilipFilipi.com, Facebook.com/filipfilipi and Twitter.com/filipfilipi