Chennai, March 13 (IANS) The controversy over the credits for the hugely popular chartbuster 'Enjoy Enjaami' refuses to die down even after four years, with another strong exchange of words taking place between music director Santhosh Narayanan and rapper Arivu on social media over the credits and royalties for the number.

It all started with a social media user sharing the song on platform X and commenting how the Tamil Indie album had broken borders, gone global and ruled the whole world during the lockdown. Responding to this post, another user alleged that "Dhee and her dad literally went ahead and stole this song from Arivu anna."

The reply caught the attention of music director Santhosh Narayanan, who responded strongly to the person who had levelled the allegation against singer Dhee.

Quoting the allegation tweet, Santhosh Narayanan on Friday wrote, "Konjam rest edunga thambi (Take some rest younger brother). Some useful info already available everywhere if you only look for it. 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.. I only suggested the word 'Enjaami' like I always suggest for most of my songs like Rakitaa , Kanimaa etc. Thankfully, we live in a digital domain and every claim can and should be proven."

The response by Santhosh Narayanan caught rapper Arivu's eye, who put out a clarification tweet, explaining his version of the sequence of events.

Arivu wrote, "For clarity regarding “Enjoy Enjaami” (released 5 years ago): 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. 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 further said, "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. Independent artists: protect your work. Have agreements. Know your rights. - Arivu Valliamma Perandi."

Santhosh Narayanan responded to Arivu's tweet strongly. He wrote, "You can have your own opinions man. Pretty much every single one of your technical/ownership/legal claims are dishonest and delusional as always. 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."

Arivu hit back at Santhosh Narayanan saying, "My statement on credit, ownership and compensation is already public. I tried multiple times to resolve this privately — even visiting your home. Those efforts went nowhere. This isn’t a social media debate. Facts speak for themselves. Appropriate channels exist."

Santhosh Narayanan then wrote, "Yes this should never been a social media talking point until you made it one with brazen lies. Again a beautiful fabrication of deceit when you say you tried to resolve this. 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 for your marriage (I was abroad and my staff told me later). This was after you had blocked me and made a song about it. Anba dhan pesuven (I will only talk with love) I promise let’s debate this man."

For the unaware,'Enjoy Enjaami', one of the most popular Tamil chartbusters to capture the imagination of the youth, was a phenomenal success. The number received a whopping 521 Million views on YouTube, with over 5.1 million people giving it a thumbs up.

The controversy first erupted in 2022 after music director Santhosh Narayanan was given the credit for composing the song at the inaugural function of the chess olympiad in Chennai, where singers Dhee and Kidakuzhi Mariyammal performed the number. However, there was no mention of Arivu.

--

IANS

mkr/