Arivu, Dhee and the ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ controversy: Here’s all you need to know

After Arivu’s exclusion was pointed out, he took to social media saying he had “composed, written, sung and performed” Enjoy Enjaami.

“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 team work. 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..(sic)”, he said.

 

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A post shared by Arivu (@therukural)

Reacting to Arivu’s post, Santosh released his own statement, explaining the creative process of how the song came into being. While Arivu claimed it took almost six months for him to write the song, Santhosh said “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”.

“As we had only a few hours to record Enjoy Enjaami before the shoot, our process was swift, fun and spontaneous,” Santhosh added.

🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/7Rzhk6MXj2

— Santhosh Narayanan (@Music_Santhosh) August 1, 2022

However, Santhosh did not comment on the Chess Olympiad controversy, noting that he has always “created Arivu and Dhee without prejudice in all platforms under my control”.

Meanwhile, singer Dhee also responded to the controversy with her own post on social media. In a two-page letter, she said Santhosh, Arivu and herself had no control over the marketing of the album and that she had no control over its promotion by external sources. Dhee also clarified that Arivu, too, was invited to perform at the Olympiad, but couldn’t make it to the event as he was in the United States.

Please read it fully when you get the time 🙏🏽💕 pic.twitter.com/RkcccT3wps

— Dhee (@talktodhee) August 1, 2022

Dhee further stressed that she had always given credit to Arivu as the singer/writer, and Santhosh as the producer/composer of the song.

This is not the first time Enjoy Enjaami has created controversy. When it was released in 2021, the video, which shows Arivu holding an African sceptre and doing a ritualistic dance reminiscent of African traditional dances, caused a stir, with viewers alleging racism and cultural appropriation.

In a separate incident, Rolling Stone magazine was called out after it failed to credit Arivu for Enjoy Enjaami. The magazine had interviewed Dhee and Shan Vincent de Paul, singer of Neeye Oli, and featured them on its cover but excluded Arivu.