Arivu, Dhee, and the ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ controversy explained

The independent track has been the centre of ongoing controversy about singer-songwriter Arivu’s exclusion from the credits during a recent performance

Independent music label Maajja’s last year’s release Enjoy Enjaami was aimed at bringing people together through music, and celebrating the ancestors who strived to propagate life. It is also a personal tribute from singer-songwriter Arivu to his grandmother Valliyamma, who is a descendant of the labourers forcibly taken to Sri Lanka to work on the tea plantations.

It didn’t take much time for the track to rise to the top, garnering millions of views on YouTube within days of its release. Now, more than a year after its release, the song continues to be one of the top Indie Tamil songs ever released. However, is also at the centre of a controversy involving singer-songwriter Arivu, music producer Santhosh Narayanan, and singer Dhee.

Post its release, the music video of Enjoy Enjaami drew criticism from some quarters for Arivu’s costumes — which some felt were appropriation of African culture — and for how Dhee took the centre-stage in the visuals, sidelining Arivu. The issue grew bigger when Arivu was excluded from the cover of DJ Snake’s remix version and from the cover of Rolling Stone India’s August 2021 cover. The Rolling Stone cover, which featured Dhee and Neeye Oli singer Shan Vincent de Paul, drew flak from all over, with even Tamil film director Pa. Ranjith voicing out his support for Arivu. The magazine later released a new digital cover on the cover of their issue, featuring Arivu.

However, the people involved in the controversy, except Shan Vincent, have stayed silent over the controversy, until yesterday.

Enjoy Enjaami was recently performed by Dhee and Kidakuzhi Mariyammal at the opening ceremony of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai. Santhosh Narayanan was credited as the composer, and there was no mention of Arivu, who is currently touring in the US. Arivu came out with a statement on social media stating that he “composed, written, sung and performed” Enjoy Enjaami.

“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 a 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 scarmark of this generational oppression. Like this Just One. 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 alseep. Never when you are awake. Jaibhim. Truth will always win in the end (sic),” he wrote.

Soon after Arivu’s post, composer Santosh reacted to the same with a statement detailing the creative process behind the song. Santosh claimed that it was he who composed the tune of the song and that the entire creative process was done under 30 hours, contrary to Arivu’s statement that the song took six months.