Chennai, March 13 Five years after the release of the viral Tamil hit 'Enjoy Enjaami', rapper Arivu, who was introduced as a "featured artist" in the song credits, claimed on Friday that he "wrote the entire song and composed the main melody", but is not receiving any royalties.
"Five years later, the collaborators hold the rights and receive royalties, while I received no payment and no ownership for my work," he wrote on 'X'.
The song, a collaboration between Arivu, singer Dhee, and composer Santhosh Narayanan, popularly known as SaNa, became a global sensation overnight when it was released in 2021, by the A R Rahman-backed Maajja label.
However, soon after, a dispute involving creative ownership, credit erasure, and financial exploitation led to a rift between the creators.
Now, Arivu sparked a debate again by posting a thread on 'X' on Friday, to provide "clarity" on the issue, and insisted that "credit and compensation must also be fair".
"The song was shot in my village, with stories from my land and my people," Arivu wrote.
He also said at the time that he didn't fully understand that "featured artist" meant no royalties.
Responding to him, composer SaNa denied Arivu's claims and asked him if he was open to debating the issue "in any medium/channel of his choice".
"Pretty much all of your technical/ownership/legal claims are dishonest and delusional as always," SaNa wrote on his official 'X' account, adding that Arivu had actually blocked him "everywhere".
Arivu, meanwhile, noted that he tried multiple times to resolve this privately, but "those efforts went nowhere". "Independent artists: protect your work. Have agreements. Know your rights," he added.
But SaNa refuted his claims and reiterated: "This song idea was conceived by Dhee and also has some of her in it. The core storyline and concept of the song was done by director Manikandan... I composed, produced and created all the melodies in the song."