Enjoy Enjaami Controversy Explained: Arivu, Santhosh Narayanan At Loggerheads

The viral Tamil indie hit, 'Enjoy Enjaami' has run into controversy time and again since its release. Composed by Santhosh Narayanan and recorded by Dhee and Arivu, they made headlines after Arivu stated that he composed, wrote, and recorded the song. Whereas Narayanan and vocalist Dhee contradicted saying it was a collaborative effort.

Arivu revealed that the lyrics of 'Enjoy Enjaami' are an ode to the life of his grandmother Valiammal, who worked as a labourer on a tea plantation in the southern part of India. She also features in the music video towards the end. The song was released last year in an attempt to unite people through music and honour the ancestors who worked to spread life. 

Enjoy Enjaami Controversy

A few days after its release, the song quickly rose to the top of the charts, racking up millions of YouTube views. The song has been one of the most popular Indie Tamil songs ever released for more than a year.

Following its debut, the music video for Enjoy Enjaami garnered criticism from some places for Arivu's outfits, which some claimed were an appropriation of African culture, and for how Dhee took centre stage in the visuals, sidelining Arivu. The dispute grew after Arivu was left off the cover of DJ Snake's remix version as well as the August 2021 cover of Rolling Stone India. The Rolling Stone cover, which featured Madhavan Palaniswamy (Dhee) and Neeye Oli vocalist Gajan Balan (Shan Vincent de Paul), generated criticism from all around, with even Tamil film director Pa Ranjith expressing his support for Arivu. The magazine later published a fresh digital cover with Arivu on the cover of their edition.

The song became a centre of controversy when Dhee performed Enjoy Enjaami alongside Kidakuzhi Mariyammal at the 44th Chess Olympiad where Santosh Narayanan was credited as the composer of the song. Arivu was unable to attend the occasion since he was touring in the United States.

Fans, however, pointed out that Arivu was not adequately credited for the song's success.

Statement regarding the Collaboration by Dhee

On August 1, Santhosh Narayanan clarified that the rights and revenue shares of Enjoy Enjaami belong to him, Arivu, and Dhee. He continued by stating that he would adore having a conversation with the song's performers.

The second vocalist of the song Dhee shared on the social media platform Twitter, a long statement regarding the ongoing controversy. It read, "I have always made sure I give credits to Arivu as the writer/singer and Santhosh Narayanan as the producer/composer at every point. I have proudly spoken about them, specifically Arivu, every chance I got. At no point have I diminished or downplayed both of their importance in Enjoy Enjaami. I only wanted Arivu's voice to be heard the loudest. As I believe what he has to say is important and it deserves front and centre. All revenues and ownership of our song are shared equally amongst the three of us."

She also mentions that regarding the performance at the 44th Chess Olympiad. She stated that the event organisers approached both her and Arivu to perform for the event but since, he was in the US at that time. So, during the performance, his voice track was played. She said, "He was spoken about at the event for his words and his performance of Enjoy Enjaami."

She also mentions that she has been misinterpreted in this situation, " though this whole thing has been interpreted in many different ways, I am consoled by the importance of what this conversation means in an ongoing battle, and what role it plays in the process of revolution."

Suggested Reading: All You Should Know About Dhee: Enjoy Enjaami Singer’s Latest Magazine Cover Slammed

Arivu claims to have composed and written Enjoy Enjaami

After the Olympiad, in an Instagram post, Rapper Arivu claimed that he was the one who wrote and composed Enjoy Enjaami and nobody collaborated or gave him any melody or any single word to write or work on this song.

He said, "I "Composed", "Written", "sung" & "Performed" Enjoy Enjaami. Nobody gave me a Tune, Melody or a Single word to write this one. Spent almost 6 months of sleepless and stressful nights and days for everything it is right now. No doubt it’s great teamwork. No doubt it calls everyone together. But it doesn’t mean that’s not the history of Valliammal or the landless Tea plantation slave ancestors of mine. Every song of mine will be having the scar mark of this generational oppression. Like this Just One."

He further added, "There are 10000 songs of folk in this land. The Songs that carry the breath of ancestors, Their pain, Their Life, Love, Their Resistance and all about their existence. It’s all speaking to you in beautiful songs. Because we are a generation of blood and sweat turned into melodies of liberating arts. We carry the legacy through songs. Anyone can snatch away your treasure when You’re asleep. Never when you are awake. Jai Bhim. The truth will always win in the end."

Santosh Narayanan's Claims

Soon after Arivu's post, composer Santosh responded with a statement outlining the song's creation process. Santosh said that he composed the song's tune and that the entire creative process took less than 30 hours, contradicting Arivu's assertion that the song took six months.

The composer took Instagram regarding the matter and said, "In December 2020, Dhee came up with the idea of creating a Tamil song which glorified our roots and celebrated nature. I then composed, arranged, programmed, recorded and co-sang Enjoy Enjaami. The above said work of mine is often referred to as “Producer” globally as many already know in the independent space. Dhee, Arivu and I came together with a lot of love for each other and for the love of independent art. We decided to not have any artist just perform(sing) on Enjoy Enjaami and agreed that each one would either co-compose tunes or write verses in the song. While Dhee and Arivu agreed to sing the song, Both Dhee and Arivu were involved in the creative process. Dhee co-composed the tunes of many of her lines, while Arivu agreed to write the lyrics. I composed the rest of the tune and also composed the tune of Arivu’s portions."