var phpData = (function get_php_data() {
  var php_data;
  $.ajax({
    url: "http://somesite/v1/api/get_php_data",
    async: false, 
    //very important: else php_data will be returned even before we get Json from the url
    dataType: 'json',
    success: function (json) {
      php_data = json;
    }
  });
  return php_data;
})();