Artist Arivu contribution erased yet again, Internet questions

Ground Report | New Delhi: Artist Arivu contribution erased; The recent issue of 'Rolling Stone India' came into the limelight after it failed to attribute its cover story 'Back to the Roots' to lyricist, rapper, and singer Arivu. The magazine interviewed singers Shan Vincent de paul and Dhee who had lent their voice for the hit singles- Neeye Oli and Enjoy Enjaami, respectively. While Arivu has co-written Neeyo Oli with Shan, he is also the lyricist of enjoying Enjaami.

Artist Arivu contribution erased

Tamil filmmaker PA Ranjith on Sunday strongly condemned pop culture and music magazine Rolling Stone India for ignoring the contribution of Dalit musician, Arivarasu Kalainesan aka Arivu, internet sensations Enjoy songs Enjaami and Neeye Oli.

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Rolling Stone on Friday announced its cover story about two Tamil songs, penned by Arivu, by tweeting on the cover of its August edition.

@TherukuralArivu, the lyricist of #Neeyaoli and singer as well as lyricist of #enjoyenjami has once again been invisiblised. @RollingStoneIN and @joinmaajja is it so difficult to understand that the lyrics of both songs challenges this erasure of public acknowledgement? https://t.co/jqLjfS9nwY

— pa.ranjith (@beemji) August 22, 2021

Enjoy Enjaami, which is considered a milestone single in the Tamil indie music space, is based on the story of Arivu's grandmother, Valliammal. The song is about the life of Arivu's Dalit ancestors, yet Dhee seems to have given all the credits.

https://twitter.com/Sankul333/status/1408725691554693130

Erasing what now? Idk how many times ppl will have to point this out. Shouldn't Arivu be on the cover too? Enjoy Enjami is his song, his politics, his history. https://t.co/ZZSyG90R8T

— Bharathy Singaravel|பாரதி (@KuthaliPu) August 21, 2021

And we are back erasing Arivu's contributions in Enjaai Enjaami I see? Isn't this history in a nutshell? Utterly disgusted at all those concerned, more so at Dhee and $@N@. (They could have and should have raised their voices FOR Arivu).

— Megha Kaveri (She/Her) (@meghakaveri) August 21, 2021

complete love to these two but what's missing here is the guy who made the lyrics for both these songs and many more songs that got everyone watching. Arivu deserves more. https://t.co/gkOnVYGqPG

— Mathubalan (@mathubalan) August 21, 2021

I admit, the artist's interest, their PR tact also matters. And then there is the politics among stars and artists to get these coveted covers. Which is fine. It's like a tiny Oscar - it doesn't mean you are really the best but it can do wonders to your career.

— Aditya Shrikrishna (@gradwolf) August 22, 2021

His exclusion from the promotions of both the songs has already become a topic of conversation in online forums. From the promotions by Spotify to ROlling stone, Arivu's effects have been unacknowledged.

Internet Questions

"The victorious South Asian artist has been at the forefront of breaking boundaries with songs like "Enjoy Enjaami" and "Neeye Oli" respectively, Rolling Stone tweeted. The internet left no stone unturned to 'erase' Arivu, which is considered the 'real deal' of these songs.

“@TherukuralArivu, the lyricist and singer of #Neeyaoli as well as the lyricist of #enjoyenjami has gone invisible once again. @RollingStoneIN & @joinmaajja Is it so hard to understand that the lyrics of both songs challenge this erasure of public acceptance?" PA Ranjit tweeted. Arivu is part of PA Ranjith's music band The Casteless Collective.

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Enjoy Enjaami, considered a milestone in the Tamil indie music space, is based on the story of Arivu's grandmother, Valliammal. "Neeye Oli", a track from PA Ranjith's film Sarpatta Parambrai, is also a political song, written by Shaan Vincent de Paul and Arivu. Many say that the anti-caste songs are appropriated by upper-caste singers ignoring the contribution of Arivu, the Dalit.

Recently, the remixed version of Enjoy Enzami by DJ Snake and Dhee became the first independent Tamil song to be featured on Times Square Billboard. There also Arivu's image was not used with Dhee on the billboard, which was criticized. Ranjeet also slammed the music label Maaja, backed by AR Rahman, who is behind both the songs.

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