A verbal brawl has erupted between the composers and singers of ‘Enjoy Enjaami.’ It all started when rapper Arivu was not properly credited after the song was performed by singers Dhee and Kidakuzhi Mariyammal at the 44th Chess Olympiad’s opening ceremony. Instead, the song’s composer was credited to music director Santosh Narayanan.
Many people on social media pointed out the omission of Arivu’s name from the credits, prompting Arivu to respond to the entire controversy. On Sunday, he posted on Instagram, “Composed, Written, Sung & Performed Enjoy Enjaami.” Nobody gave me a melody, a tune, or a single word to write this song. It took nearly 6 months of sleepless nights and stressful days to get to where it is now. Without a doubt, it’s a fantastic team effort. Without a doubt, it brings everyone together. However, this is not the history of Valliammal or my landless Tea plantation slave ancestors. Every song of mine will bear the imprint of generational oppression. “Like this Just One…”
In response to Arivu’s statement, Santosh issued a letter outlining the entire creative process behind ‘Enjoy Enjaami.’ While Arivu claimed that the song took him nearly six months to write, Santosh claims that “the entire process of the ideation, composition, arrangement, and recording the shoot version with all the lyrics of ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ was done in under 30 hours.” Because we only had a few hours before the shoot to record ‘Enjoy Enjaami,’ our process was quick, fun, and spontaneous.”
Santhosh claimed he was the one who coined the phrase “Enjoy Enjaami,” which Arivu based his story on. He stated that, as is customary in the global independent scene, he is credited as the song’s “producer.” In India, the term usually refers to those who invest money in creative work but are not involved in the creative process.
“In December 2020, Dhee had the idea of writing a Tamil song that honoured our roots and celebrated nature.” “I then wrote, arranged, programmed, recorded, and co-sang ‘Enjoy Enjaami,'” he explained.
Meanwhile, Santhosh has distanced himself from the Chess Olympiad controversy, stating that he has always “created Arivu and Dhee without bias in all platforms under my control.” He also stated that the proceeds from the song were divided equally among the three of them.
This is not the first time Arivu has been embroiled in a controversy. Previously, a controversy erupted when Rolling Stone honoured Dhee and Shan Vincent by putting them on its cover but not him, despite the global success of ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ and ‘Neeye Oli.’