CHENNAI: The festering wound over the alleged appropriation of the art and culture, lived experience, and the very soul of the oppressed class was reopened on the fifth anniversary of the popular song ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ by singer Dhee and Arivu.
Released in March 2021, the song was wildly popular across the world, with Sri Lankan singer Dhee being featured on the cover of the prestigious Rolling Stone magazine. However, the controversy erupted soon afterwards over the alleged underplaying of Arivu, who had written the lyrics and also sang parts, and the song was shot in his native village.
The latest trigger was a comment by a user on social media, accusing composer Santhosh Narayanan and Dhee of stealing the song from Arivu.
Responding to it, Narayanan said it was a collaborative effort with the song idea conceived by Dhee, the core storyline and concept done by director Manikandan, composed and produced by Narayanan, and almost all the words written by Arivu.
“I only suggested the word Enjaami, like I always suggest for most of my songs, like ‘Rakitaa’ and ‘Kanimaa’. Thankfully, we live in a digital domain, and every claim can and should be proven,” he added.
Then it was Arivu’s turn to clarify, again on social media. “The beat was sent to me. I wrote the lyrics, composed the main vocal melody and performed the song based on my own cultural history and lived experience. Music is collaborative. But credit and compensation must also be fair,” he said.
Noting how the song was shot in his village, with stories from his land and people, the popular rapper said, “I shared that history, believing it would reach the masses. But I was placed only as a featuring artist — despite writing the full song and composing the main melody.” At that point in his career, Arivu said, he did not understand those nuances of rights and royalty.
“Five years later, the collaborators hold the rights and receive royalties, while I received no payment and no ownership for my work. This is not about sympathy. It is about credit, rights and dignity of labour. Independent artists: protect your work, have agreements and know your rights,” he wrote.
Immediately responding to this, Narayanan alleged that almost every single one of his technical/ownership/legal claims was “dishonest and delusional as always”, and challenged him to a debate.
Arivu replied that his statement on credit, ownership, and compensation was already made public. “I tried multiple times to resolve this privately, even visiting your home. Those efforts went nowhere.”
Narayanan said Arivu’s claim of trying to resolve it was a “beautiful fabrication of deceit”. “You never responded once during all those trying times when I had to stay silent. Also, you came home once last year to invite me to your marriage (I was abroad…). This was after you had blocked me and made a song about it,” he said.
Before the album, Santhosh and Arivu collaborated for two songs, ‘Patta Patti’ and ‘Mathiya Seraiyila’, from Vada Chennai (2018).