Music composer Santhosh Narayanan and rapper Arivu are feuding once again over the hit indie single Enjoy Enjaami, released five years ago. After a fan claimed that Santhosh and his stepdaughter, singer Dhee, ‘stole’ the song from Arivu, Santhosh responded, only for the rapper to claim non-payment and credit.
Santhosh Narayanan hits back at claim of ‘stealing’ song
“A Tamil indie album that broke borders, went global and ruled the whole lockdown days,” wrote an X (formerly Twitter) user, posting a clip from the song Enjoy Enjaami. Another X user re-tweeted it, writing, “Dhee and her dad literally went ahead and stole this song from Arivu anna.”
Santhosh hit back at the claim and clarified what happened, writing, “Konjam rest edunga thambi (Take some rest, brother).” He claimed that the idea for the song was conceived by Dhee, as was a portion of the tunes. The storyline and concept were by director Manikandan, who worked with Santhosh on Kadaisi Vivasayi. Santhosh stated he composed, produced and created all the melodies in the song.
As for Arivu’s role in it all, he claimed, “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.”
For the unversed, Dhee is Santhosh’s step-daughter and the daughter of Carnatic musician Meenakshi Iyer, to whom the music composer is married.
Arivu claims stolen credit and non-payment
Arivu then took to X to point out that Enjoy Enjaami is based on his cultural history. He wrote, “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”
He also added, “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. Back then I did not understand what that meant.”
The rapper also claimed that, now, his collaborators hold all rights and receive royalties, while he received neither payment nor ownership for his 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 (Valliamma’s grandson),” he wrote.
Santhosh Narayanan calls him ‘delusional’
However, Santhosh was quick to hit back at these claims too and slammed Arivu, writing, “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”
When Arivu claimed that he tried multiple times to resolve the issue privately and that it isn’t a social media debate, the composer replied, “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 talk only with love) I promise let’s debate this man.”
When a fan asked Arivu to ‘create one more hit’ Santhosh defended the rapper saying it was unfair to ask him to prove himself. But he also added, “Having said that it is very sad that the guy jumped on a stupid political bandwagon after the song started to get extremely popular, which we did never expected in the first place.” Enjoy Enjaami has over 521 million views on YouTube alone.
