Being Refugee & Dalit Is a Double Burden: Tamil Rapper Arivu


Featuring Arivu and Dhee, ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ was backed by music composer Santhosh Narayanan and AR Rahman’s music label Maajja, which promotes independent music. The song was released on 5 March 2021. 

In July, the song which has garnered over 430 million views and 4.8 million likes on YouTube, ran into a controversy as Arivu claimed he was not paid or credited. 

In August, Tamil filmmaker Pa Ranjith called out Rolling Stone India’s magazine cover for not crediting lyricist, rapper, and singer Arivu. Later, allegations surfaced that Maajja had not paid the rapper for his work in the viral track.

Later, at the inaugural ceremony of the 44th Chess Olympiad, singers Dhee and Kidakuzhi Mariyammal performed the song, and Santosh Narayanan was credited as the music composer. Many social media users had expressed their disappointment that Arivu was not credited or even mentioned during the event.

Arivu then broke his silence and wrote that he spent over six months to composing, writing, and performing the track. He also clarified claims by Santosh Narayanan and Maajja that both Dhee and Arivu had contributed equally to the project, saying that he did not receive any kind of external support.

Later, Santhosh Narayanan claimed that the song’s rights and revenue were equally shared among him, Arivu, and Dhee.