The controversy regarding Tamil lyricist-rapper Arivu’s credits for ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ resurfaced on March 13. “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,” Arivu said in a statement.
“Music is collaborative. But credit and compensation must also be fair,” he added.
‘Enjoy Enjaami’ was released in 2021 and performed by Arivu and playback singer Dhee. Arivu also wrote the lyrics. The track was composed by popular music director and Dhee’s father Santhosh Narayanan. It was released by Canada-based indie record label Maajja.
The same year, Arivu co-wrote ‘Neeye Oli’ along with Sri Lankan-Tamil hip-hop artist Shan Vicent de Paul for director Pa Ranjith’s Sarapatta Parambarai.
Controversy first erupted after Rolling Stone magazine featured only Dhee and Shan in their August 2021 cover story — largely crediting both of them for ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ and ‘Neeye Oli', respectively. Many in the anti-caste movement immediately pointed out that the article effectively erased the lived experiences of Arivu and his family. ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ honours Dalit indentured labourers forced to work on Sri Lankan tea plantations under colonial rule.
At the time, Ranjith, who is also Arivu’s mentor, called out Rolling Stone and Maajja for “erasing” Arivu.
Ranjith and Santhosh had previously worked together in Attakathi (2012), Madras (2014), Kabali (2016), Kaala (2018) and Sarpatta Parambarai. After the row, Ranjith has refused to associate with Santhosh. Music for his last two films – Natchathiram Nagargirathu (2022) and Thangalaan (2024) was composed by Tenma and GV Prakash, respectively.
In 2024, Santhosh threatened to sue Maajja for alleged failure to pay artists’ fees to him, Dhee, Arivu and others. The song currently has 521 million views on YouTube.
The issue was rekindled on March 13 this year after a political content creator – Arun Annow – accused Santhosh and Dhee of “stealing” the song from Arivu.
In response, Santhosh said, “This song idea was conceived by Dhee and also has some of her tunes in it. The core storyline and concept of the song was done by director Manikandan, who was working on Kadaisi Vivasayi with me at the time. I composed, produced and created all the melodies in the song. Arivu wrote almost all the words and also performed. Some traditional Oppari lines were also adapted by Arivu.”
Oppari refers to a folk musical tradition predominantly performed by Dalit artists. In ‘Enjoy Enjaam’, Arivu altered his voice when singing the oppari portions to memorialise his grandmother, Valliamma, who was forced to work on the Sri Lankan tea plantations.
Reacting to Santhosh's statement, Arivu pointed out that he had penned the lyrics based on his cultural history and lived experience.
“The song was shot in my village, with stories from my land and my people. 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,” Arivu added.
“Back then I did not understand what that meant. 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,” he further said.
Urging independent artists to “know your rights” and protect their work, Arivu signed off his statement as Valliamma perandi (Valliamma’s grandson).
Santhosh shot back, saying that Arivu’s claims were “dishonest and delusional".
“You can have your own opinions, man. Pretty much every single one of your technical/ownership/legal claims are dishonest and delusional as always,” Santhosh added.
Santhosh also issued a public challenge: “Are you open to debate this in any medium/channel of your choice with all the proofs of your claims?? As your esteemed self has blocked me everywhere else, you can reply here and I shall be available anytime.”