Santosh Narayanan-Arivu controversy: 5 years of beef over Enjoy Enjaami rights resurfaces
The long-running dispute between composer Santosh Narayanan and rapper Arivu over global hit Enjoy Enjaami has resurfaced, with both the artists making fresh claims over credits, compensation and creative ownership.
Composer Santosh Narayanan and rapper Arivu are together once again. A fresh dispute has emerged between the two regarding the hit track. Enjoy Enjaami, A global hit released five years ago. The controversy returned to public attention after a fan alleged on social media that Santosh and his stepdaughter, singer Dhi, had taken credit for the song at Arivu’s expense. This triggered a public dispute between Santosh and Arivu, with each defending his role in the production of the track and raising concerns about creative ownership and proper attribution.
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How did the Enjoy Enjami controversy resurface?
independent track enjoy enzaamiWidely recognized for its viral impact, it became the subject of online debate when one social media user described it as, “A Tamil indie album that broke boundaries, went global and ruled the entire lockdown days,” while another user claimed, “Dhee and her dad literally went ahead and stole this song from Arivu AnnaThis song was viewed 521 million times on YouTube.
These posts reignited discussions about the song’s authorship within the Tamil music community.
Santosh Narayanan dismissed the fan’s theory and said, the song was conceived by Dhi and features some of his tunes. The main story and concept of the song was worked on by director Manikandan. occasional resident With me at that time. I composed, composed and composed all the tunes for the song.”
Regarding Arivu’s involvement, he noted that the rapper “wrote almost all the words and also performed. Some traditional Opari lines were also adapted by Arivu.” The musician also revealed that he suggested the word “Enjaami” as he does for most of his songs.
“Thankfully, we live in a digital domain and every claim can and should be proven,” Santosh wrote at the end of the post.
Rapper Arivu hits back
Rapper Arivu provided clarity about the five-year-old song in an X thread. He wrote, “The beat was sent to me. I wrote the lyrics, composed the lead vocal and performed the song based on my cultural history and lived experience. Music is collaborative. But credit and compensation should also be fair.”
He further wrote, “The song was shot in my village, telling the stories of my land and my people. I shared that history with the belief that it would reach the masses. But I was only kept as a ‘featuring artist’ – despite writing the entire song and composing the main tune.” For the unknown, enjoy enzaami Highlights the struggle faced by bonded laborers and the trauma of migration.
Arivu also claimed that five years ago he did not understand what “featuring artist” meant.
He claimed that he has not received any royalty or payment in these five years. “Collaborators own the rights and receive royalties, while I receive no payment or any ownership for my work,” he wrote.
Arivu also explained that he did not create this formula on song ownership to gain sympathy, but “it is about credit, rights and respect of labour.”
He concluded his post with an appeal to independent artists: “Protect your work. Make compromises. Know your rights.”
Santosh Narayanan exposed Arivu’s lies
Santosh Narayanan responded directly to Arivu’s series of ex-posts and described his claims as “dishonest and delusional”. Mentioning that Arivu stopped him everywhere, he called him for a debate to prove his claims.
Arivu responded to him, saying, “My statement on credit, ownership and compensation is already public. I tried several times to resolve this privately – even by visiting you at your home. Those efforts went nowhere. This is not a social media debate. The facts speak for themselves. Proper channels exist.”
Santosh Narayanan also agreed with Arivu that the controversy should never have become a “discussion issue on social media”, before linking it with his “shameless lies”. He posted, “When you say you tried to sort it out this is again a beautiful creation of deception. You did not respond even once during all those attempts when I had to keep quiet.”
zion The musician cleared the air by saying that Arivu was not at home when he came to his house. “Also you came home once last year to invite me to your wedding (I was abroad and my staff told me later). This was after you blocked me and made a song about it,” he wrote and called him out for debate.
Musician says Arivu “jumped on stupid political party”
An internet user while replying to Santhosh Narayanan asked Arivu to make another hit. Defending Arivu, the musician said, “I think it’s unfair to expect someone to prove his worth in evidence.”
However, they soon accused him of political party jumping. He wrote, “It is very sad that after the song became very popular, the person jumped on a stupid political party.”
The musician also mentioned that the story began to change in the interviews and explained how the before and after interview clips could make for a good stand-up comedy set.