Leading up to #HGStreet, a two-day festival at the intersection of creativity, music, art and design, fashion, film and photography, technology, sneakers and street culture, sports and gaming, education, culinary, innovation and more, Homegrown is hosting a pre-party with non other than SVDP, in a one off exclusive show on the 9th of March at at antiSOCIAL, Mumbai.
Shan Vincent de Paul or SVDP is an award winning Tamil-Canadian artist based out of Toronto. Having released five solo studio projects since 2016, SVDP has become a notable name in the global hip-hop scene. Known for his versatile song writing and his striking self-directed visuals, SVDP fuses his Tamil roots with his contemporary hip-hop influences.
SVDP’s razorsharp lyricism came to prominence when he juxtaposed it with Eastern instruments and Carnatic music on Mrithangam Raps with the producer and instrumentalist, Yanchan. The confluence of rhythms in a fusion of rap and percussions of the mridangam gave rise to a merging of the artist's native and global identities, which also became his signature style in his music.
Check out one of the episodes of Mrithangam Raps below.
SVDP's music tell the stories of Sri Lanka's history and culture like his track 'One Hundred Thousand Flowers', of which the collective trauma of genocide and displacement of its Tamil population by the majoritarian government remains central theme. The violent, 26-year-long civil war resulting in around 100,000 civilian deaths of the Tamil minority was also the reason for SVDP and his family to flee to Canada as refugees. His music has been a medium of expression and exploration of his painful past and his roots.
The artist returns to India this March in Homegrown's expression of India’s evolving culture movements and voices with his eclectic rhythm styles, tempos and flow bringing you stories of South Asian diasporic life.
To attend the pre-party, you can either buy a pass to #HGStreet here or get your pre-party pass here.
If you enjoyed reading this, here's more from Homegrown:
Mumbai, Homegrown Is Bringing You A Music Lineup Like No Other In March
#HGStreet2023: India's Premiere Homegrown Culture & Lifestyle Festival Returns This March
#HGStreet2023: Here's What Went Down At The Homegrown Festival's Last Editions