Four years can change everything. In SVDP’s case, they changed a promising lyricist into one of Asian Hip Hop’s most exciting creative minds. When LiFTED first heard the soul-heavy brilliance of ‘Uyire’ in 2021, the track instantly marked him as a deep-thinking wordsmith with something real to say. By 2025, SVDP had transformed into the full package. As both rapper and director, he delivered two of the year’s most unforgettable visuals with ‘AIYO!’ featuring Yung Raja and the powerful follow-up ‘Brand New!’ — a one-two punch that earned a historic tie at the top of LiFTED LiST’s Best Videos of 2025.

SVDP has been making money moves for a minute, starting with his debut album, Saviors, in 2016 and his highly regarded sophomore effort Trigger Happy Heartbreak the following year. Then he dropped the EP SVDP1 [also in 2017], and meanwhile his composing work for TV got him nominated for a Canadian JUNO award in 2022, after winning a couple of Independent Music Awards for Best Rap song along the way. That’s a pretty slick resume for this Tamil boy from Sri Lanka whose family emigrated to Canada during the country’s long running civil war. SVDP is regarded as a top-level creative, both sonically and visually, in Toronto’s bubbling music media space. LiFTED finally got the chance to sit down with him and sip chai for the January cover. Lucky us.

Long time coming, glad we can finally connect. Been watching the movement for a while now.

I only go by SVDP now. Yes, Shan Vincent de Paul is my real name, no gimmicks, shout out to Obie Trice. It’s a catholic name, my family is Catholic. I don’t subscribe to any religion, but yes, the name dates back to the saint.

I reached out to Raja in 2021 to get on “AIYO!” We had been chatting online already. We finally met in person in Malaysia to shoot the video and hit it off immediately. We had very similar cultural influences from both the Tamil culture side and the Hip Hop we listened to. We also had a mutual love for fashion, design and fly shit.

Here’s a LiFTED exclusive for you: we have a whole project together, just sorting out the release. It's the most high-octane-fly-tamil-boy-luxury-global-shit you’ll ever hear. It’s a pretty big departure from what I would do as a solo artist, so I love experimenting in an entirely different space.

Toronto’s influence is naturally embedded in everything I do. In terms of language, my work is predominantly English. I might sprinkle in some Tamil phrases here and there, but writing an entire song in Tamil is not something I’ve done yet. There are so many incredible Tamil lyricists, I would need to be contributing something to the landscape as opposed to just doing it for the sake of.

Hearing artists like Outkast, DMX, Nas, Hieroglyphics, Kurupt, Pharoahe Monch, and EL-P made me want to Rap. I’m not musically trained in anything and Rap felt like it wasn’t bound to any rules so I gravitated towards it. I was also an immigrant kid from Jaffna living in Toronto. At that time there was no representation of South Asians in the larger mainstream and the stories I heard through Rap music were parallel to my experiences. Now I’m at a point where I have to sit back and say, “OK, What’s my contribution now?” Participating isn’t enough, especially for as long as I’ve been in the game.

In 2023, performing in Jaffna for the first time to over 40,000 people was one of the most unforgettable and emotional moments in my career. To go back to the city I was born in , post war, and connect with the people through such a beautiful concert was special. I’ll never forget that experience. Shout out to Santhosh for putting that show on and connecting us all. My parents also just happened to be in Jaffna at the same time, so to have them witness that was also a deeply special moment.

The first time I toured India in 2020 was eye opening. The love I received was unmatched. I wasn’t sure what to expect as it was my first time performing in the country ,but the energy was electric. It was around the time ‘Mrithangam Raps’ was taking off, so we got to share that with the Indian audience for the first time as well. Since then I’ve been back a bunch of times on tour, and I’m really connecting with the scene. It’s an entirely different beast from the west, so I’m still navigating it and learning along the way.

Absolutely. My fascination for Japanese art and design came from early video game culture. The character design, atmosphere, and approach to art was unlike anything I’ve seen. Since then I’ve always been following the art scene there and drawing inspiration. In terms of Hip Hop, Awich is on a great run. I also got put on to OZWorld recently. It’s interesting to see an entirely different approach to Rap music with a different cultural foundation.

You have the usual suspects like Jay, Nas, Biggie, Pac, Em. Like everyone else, I also grew up off those greats, for me I was also heavily influenced by artists like Pharaoh Monch, Slum Village, Cannibal Ox, Hieroglyphics, Dungeon Family, El-P, Mos Def, Common, Big Pun, UGK, Scarface, Kurupt, Missy Elliott, Clipse, Freestyle Fellowship, Redman, Cee Lo, and DMX. My personal favorites of the moment would be Tierra Whack, Doechi, JID, Little Simz, Stovegod Cooks, Jean Dawson, Mick Jenkins, and Buddy.

No wishes. Just eager to share the two albums I’ve been working on. The first single drops in February. For the last two years I’ve been doing a lot of collabs, features, touring, and film work, I’m super excited to finally get back to my own projects.