Interview: In NEW SAINT We Trust

In NEW SAINT We Trust

The Filipino-Canadian rapper re-introduces himself in full form on his new LP, SANTO.

By Neil Jefferies

Photos by Rasha Jules

Published on January 30, 2026

For NEW SAINT (Ivo Santos), doing it differently is at the heart of what drives him. Santos has never been a stranger to experimentation. The Calgary talent has years under his belt tinkering with a wide array of genres and disciplines, from folk to vaporwave, graphic design to videography. Ahead of the release of his new album SANTO, RANGE caught up with him to discuss his constant evolution as a musician and person over the last five years.

“I really love how artists like David Bowie and Kanye, every single era, every album, are always pushing the boundaries of their sounds. I get too bored when I’m locked into a single sound. I’ve experimented with Drum and Bass, with rage, I don’t really know what genre is anymore.”

That hunger for newness and the excitement that comes with it is written all over Santos’ face as he talks about the Calgary community and its burgeoning underground rap scene.

“Calgary has a huge underground rap community. Mainstream underground that you hear today, like Nettspend and Osamason, it’s almost the same kind of stuff that was brewing here in Calgary years ago, but on a way bigger stage.”

It’s not just the rap community that excites him, but the arts scene across Calgary in general. The importance of maintaining and growing the scene so it can better support artists isn’t lost on him.

“You really see the creativity. It’s a small town feel where everybody knows each other. It’s such a cool community to be a part of. You can see that people are really starting to come together to create awesome stuff. We often lose a lot of artists to bigger cities because we don’t have the infrastructure to support people; it’s either come up here and hit a limit, or move to Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal. Even Tate McRae, Calgary only claimed her when she got global.”

While Santos understands the importance of building the arts community from within at home, he didn’t always have that as a fallback. After living in Manila and Hong Kong for the first seven years of his life, he and his family moved to Drumheller in 2000.

“When we first moved to Drumheller, we were the only Filipino family. There was a Cambodian family, and they lumped us in the same group. I’ve lived in Canada for 25 years, I have an Alberta accent. But at the end of the day, the first thing people see is that I’m Asian and an immigrant, despite being here for this long.”

The development of Santos’ character as an artist is a reflection of his daily realities. From the loss of family members during the Covid-19 pandemic, to facing harassment from alt-right lunatics, he’s committed to making it work against all odds.

“A really common theme in my life was that a lot of my family members were getting older. It turned into there being a funeral every year. I lost my aunty, my cousin, my uncle, all within a span of like two years because of COVID.”

Santos isn’t one to sit on the sidelines and watch, as he puts it, “you take time, finances and emotional labour to do what you can.” Having faced all this loss head-on, Santos took to TikTok, posting regularly about masking up and staying safe.

“I caught the attention of the trucker’s convoy. I got doxed and ended up having to move apartments, they were sending death threats and messaging my family. I literally had to change everything. It was crazy. I’m trying to deal with family funerals, and at the same time, there’s a dude in a trucker hat telling me it’s a fake China flu virus.”

A perpetual state of change, Filipino representation and growth through pain are the pillars upholding SANTO. Backed by a selection of industrial, clunking beats slathered in distorted vocal samples – reminiscent of those on Kanye West’s Yeezus – the sounds on this record are often maximalist, mechanical and triumphant. “THE BAD SLEEP WELL” draws a tightrope of anxious tension before rewarding with a burst of piercing, political lyrics meant to crack the skull open. On “NECK BROKE OUTRO,” Santos’ balances the weight of the album with a sense of personal optimism, pleading to replace looking backwards with a bright projection into the future.

Santos’ character is balanced, and his music is a reflection of that balance. He can just as easily be critical towards society as he can be optimistic towards it. That same balance is what helps him jump from genre to genre, city to town, tragedy to triumph.

Next on the docket for Santos is more progress. More experimentation, more pain, and more wisdom can all be expected in future releases.

“I already know what I want to do for the next album, and it’s really just expanding on the world of SANTO. I just want to keep going. Still trying to pay rent, still trying to survive out here. Keep it real as best I can.”