SVDP Talks India Return: ‘I Might Be An Honorary Citizen At This Point’

SVDP aka Shan Vincent de Paul agrees that December is a good time for him to be in India. After all, the Carnatic concert season begins in full swing in Chennai and SVDP – the rapper behind albums like Made In Jaffna and of course, Mrithangam Raps with beatsmith Yanchan Produced – is keen to explore performances “as a fan.”

The Tamil-Canadian firepower hip-hop artist has kicked off an India tour in November, performing in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and caps it off with a festival set at Echoes of Earth in Bengaluru on Dec. 7, 2024. “The thing about coming on tour is I rarely have time to do anything else, so this time I’m trying to set aside just downtime where I can actually explore the city, especially in Bangalore,” he says.

Since early 2020 – just before the pandemic, mind you – SVDP made his India debut at festivals like Vh1 Supersonic and nothing was the same. He went on to collaborate with the likes of composer Santhosh Narayan and fellow Tamil-origin Canadian hip-hop artist Navz-47  on “Neeye Oli,” a runaway hit in 2021 from Made In Jaffna that was also used in the Tamil film Sarpatta Parambarai, with lyrics by rapper-songwriter Arivu.

Fast forward to four years later, in 2024, SVDP jokes about how he feels like an honorary Indian citizen at this point. “I came four times last year. I was just there a month and a half ago [in August 2024], strictly recording. That was really refreshing to me, because every time I come [to India], it’s always been to do shows, and this is the first time that I was out there for a couple of weeks just strictly recording. So I didn’t even leave the studio. I love that vibe as well,” he says. His last big performance in India came in 2023, supporting American rap heavyweight 50 Cent in Navi Mumbai.

So far, this year has seen the release of one SVDP film song, “Burnout the Engine” from Malayalam movie Turbo. For the most part, he’s been working on an album in Chennai. “I’m going to go back and lock into the studio for maybe a couple of weeks before the tour starts and just reconnect with some friends and artists,” he adds. SVDP’s rise among desi diaspora around the world as well as in India mirrors the rising global acceptance of hip-hop from brown artists. He credits Bollywood movies like rapper biopic Gully Boy changing perceptions and encouraging new talent, drawing a comparison to when Eminem-starrer 8 Mile came out in North America. He says, “When I was in India, I was literally watching kids cypher on the streets, everywhere and anywhere. To me, that was exciting, because grassroots enthusiasm kind of dwindled out here [in Canada].” SVDP goes on to declare that India and Africa “are going to be the next giants in hip-hop.”

Coming back to Bengaluru, SVDP says he spoke to fellow Tamil artist Yung Raja about the Echoes of Earth experience and says his “Aiyo!” collaborator called it a lot of fun. SVDP recalls all the love that Bengaluru has given him, whereas with cities like Mumbai and New Delhi, he draws comparisons to Toronto and how “the audience is harder to impress because they’ve seen everything.” He adds, “Whereas Bangalore, I feel like the people that come out to the shows and festivals, they’re real music lovers. So I’ve had my best shows in Bangalore. And so to go from [club venue] Fandom to doing this festival is pretty exciting for me.”

There’s likely to be a few new songs in SVDP’s setlist at Echoes of Earth, but also everything the audience wants. He says, “I want to try some new shit and to see how they respond to it. I’ve debuted a lot of stuff at festivals before, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m super excited to run through the classic stuff that I have in my own catalog, and then just try a bunch of new shit as well.”

SVDP has been working on an album – slated for release in the summer of 2025 – but also linking up with artists like singer-producer Kavya Trehan. He also shouts out Tamil artist Killa K as a fellow rapper whose music is on his radar. He adds, “I’m going to be dropping a couple of new singles before I get out there and another new video. And then I’ll probably be dropping a mixtape in first quarter 2025 and then the album in end of summer 2025.”

SVDP performs at Echoes of Earth in Bengaluru on Dec. 7, 2024. Get tickets here.