Enjoy Enjaami
"Enjoy Enjaami" is a Tamil-language song recorded by singer Dhee featuring Indian rapper Arivu and Indian producer Santhosh Narayanan. It was written and sung by lyricist Arivu and Dhee, and composed and arranged by Narayanan under the music label/management Maajja, an independent platform launched by Indian producer A. R. Rahman. The song was released on 7 March 2021.
"Enjoy Enjaami" is a pop and hip hop song incorporating elements of R&B and oppari, a folk music style of Tamil Nadu. Its lyrics discuss civilizations and natural resources, inspired by events of colonial India, and is a homage to Tamil culture and people. The song was met with viral commercial success and widespread acclaim. Music critics praised the song's production, lyricism and the duo's vocals.
Its music video was released on YouTube on 10 March 2021. The video has gained more than 5 million likes and 508 million views, becoming the first Tamil independent single to do so. The video was lauded for its themes and design. A remixed version of this song performed by DJ Snake along with Dhee, was released exclusively through Spotify on 21 June 2021, as a part of Spotify Singles initiative. "Enjoy Enjaami" has been regarded as the indicator to the advent of Tamil indie music.
Background
According to the lyricist, Arivu, the song was written as a celebration of his roots, harkening back to a time when humanity was a fledgling civilisation, living in harmony with the turns of the earth and the many lives that shared it with them. His inspiration came from several places.Both, Dhee and Arivu had discussed while working on Manikandan's Kadaisi Vivasayi. Arivu, who has been writing songs for The Casteless Collective, a political folk band, stated that: "They are filled with anger which is not something that people would listen to. But, we do it knowing that it’s not a commercial space; Athu Makkalukaana Kural." However, he wanted the song to reach everyone and yet to have a political depth to it, which is according to Arivu, the idea — ulagam naaikum, narikum, punaikum, elikum, pooranukum sontham dhan — came up. The team also stated that the song is inspired by Pa. Ranjith's work for his band Casteless Collective.
The song is the story of Valliammal, Arivu's grandmother, who used to call him 'Enjaami'. It was the story told to him by his grandmother about the Tamil migration to Ceylon during the Colonial era. During the period of Colonial India, with a poverty-stricken population, it was a market for cheap labour. Hordes of Tamil people were sent to Ceylon in the 19th century to work on the tea, coffee and rubber plantations, with his grandmother being one of them. This inspired Arivu's lyrics which alluded to humanity's relationship to the Earth, with reference to the land, soil, and ancestors. Valliammal makes an appearance at the end of the music video, sat on a throne-esque seat, flanked by Arivu and Dhee to her left and right. Through this song, Arivu hoped to convey the forgotten roots of the Earth and the roots of self as a people. V Vivek of Deccan Herald stated that the song is a tribute to the Tamil plantation house and its workers.
Santhosh stated that composition, production, recording and the accompanying music video shoot took place within 30 hours.
Lyrics
Music video
The music video was directed by Amith Krishnan, who previously helmed many independent singles. Balaji Subramanyan filmed the visuals which took place in Arivu's hometown in Tiruvannamalai district. It was the first time Dhee has been on a music video for a performance of hers.The music video opens with Parai drummers drumming along with women ululating, causing the Earth to shake. The video then cuts to a shot of Dhee uncovering her face, flanked by beautiful dancers all around her. The video mainly alternated between shots of Dhee and/or Arivu in a jungle-like set and in a dry field during the day and night, with the latter night scene being depicted as a celebratory bonfire party scene. Dhee is consistently depicted sitting on and standing beside a throne throughout the video and the video ends with Valliammal on a throne-like seat, alluding to Arivu's lyrics of celebrating a matriarchal society.
Release
"Enjoy Enjaami" is the first Tamil-language single to be released under Maajja. Arivu stated that the theme of the song the main reason behind the team's decision to release the single first. The song was released as a single through various music streaming platforms on 7 March 2021. The same day, both Dhee and Arivu performed the song through the reality show Super Singer telecasted on Star Vijay. On 10 March 2021, the music video for the song was released through YouTube.Reception
Audience response
The song and its music video received viral response for the picturisation, visuals, direction and for its lyrics and tunes which was touted to be a "fun and inspiring number". Many internet memes praising the song were circulated through social media. It was widely praised by celebrities from the Tamil film industry including Dhanush, Sai Pallavi, Siddharth, Samantha, Vignesh Shivan, Dulquer Salmaan, Lokesh Kanagaraj, Pa. Ranjith, Selvaraghavan and also by the Indian Cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin. The composer Santhosh Narayanan praised the audience for their unconditional support towards the song. Dairy brand Amul recreated a poster featuring Dhee and Arivu with their mascots and also referred a pun to its lead singer Dhee, celebrating the song. To raise awareness about COVID-19, Chennai Railway Police performed to the song at Chennai Central Railway Station.Critical review
Writing for The Hindu, Chennai-based critic Kavitha Muralidharan stated that "the song packs a punch with its vibrant frames and lyrics", further adding that "the timeless attachment to land, environment issues, the pain of the landless labourers and the love of nature, gives this seemingly easy earworm of a song both its depth and its rich character". A reviewer from The Indian Express called that the song "celebrates our shared existence with nature". Prathyush Parasuraman of Film Companion South stat that the song has "a kind of narrative storytelling, similar to Tamil’s Sangam Thinai poetry, where character and thus feeling is reflected in and thus subservient to nature and the landscape". Revathi Krishnan of ThePrint had called the song "talking about the feudal system, landless farmers and the caste system" had made people move over "Why This Kolaveri Di". A review from The Humming Heart called that "with this song, Tamil music seems to have begun to make the trudge away from vacuous songs masquerading as entertainment and towards message-driven art, albeit with the same visual adventurousness." The New Indian Express chief critic Hymathi M, listed it in one of the few songs that "used by listeners to comfort our mind and soul during pandemic times". Writing for The Wire, Sreenidhi Padmanabhan, a student at Jawaharlal Nehru University with her professor Ajith Kanna, stated that "the song is a remarkable lyrical and musical intervention that takes us one step closer to annihilating caste". Avinash Ramachandran of Cinema Express stated the song in his 'Jukebox 2021' review, adding that it "opened up mainstream Tamil cinema audiences to the idea of music videos as a separate entity".Records
The song crossed more than 2 million streams in the music platform Spotify within two weeks. The video which released on 10 March 2021, had crossed more than 20 million views within the span of a week. It became the first non-film Tamil song to cross more than 100 million views, and 4 million likes becoming the second Tamil song to achieve this feat. It further crossed 200 million views during the end of May 2021, and 270 million views as of June 2021. It was one of the Top 10 music videos from India being played on YouTube.Chart performance
Weekly charts| Chart | Peak position |
| United Kingdom | 5 |
| iTunes India Charts | 1 |
| Spotify Top 200 | 3 |
| Spotify Viral 50 | 5 |
Controversies
''Rolling Stone'' cover controversy
Despite the song's success, its contributor, rapper-cum-lyricist Arivu, was notably not included on the cover of the July 2021 edition of Rolling Stone India magazine, which included singer, Dhee, and rapper, Shan Vincent de Paul, with the latter being the lead performer on "Neeye Oli" for which Arivu contributed lyrics to. Pa. Ranjith criticised the executives of Rolling Stone India and music platform Maajja, for failing to credit the lyricist and interviewing him. Many netizens pointed about Arivu's erasure as a result of caste-based discrimination, since Arivu belonged to a marginalised Dalit household. Shan Vincent also came in support of Arivu, calling out Maajja for his erasure, but criticised Ranjith for creating a rift between the two Tamil rappers. Noel Kirthiraj, the CEO of Maajja, eventually responded that "The cover has nothing to do with the songs Enjoy Enjaami and Neeye Oli, but I understand the confusion as they were promoted along with it. When stories are written about Arivu and there is no mention of Dhee and Santhosh Narayanan, it is absolutely fine. Maajja’s intentions are quite clear and one thing Maajja won’t do is play politics or do something to please people." In response to the controversy, Rolling Stone subsequently released another cover of that magazine, featuring Arivu and other Maajja artists, in August 2021.'''The controversies demonstrate that despite the song being set up to challenge socio-musical power relations within the musical economy, it reinforced the same caste hierarchy. This demonstrates that despite the potential of cross-border collaboration, there are still many limiting factors at play.'''