Dhee magazine cover faces backlash: A magazine cover featuring Sri-Lankan-Australian singer Dheekshitha Venkadeshan, popularly known as "Dhee" is facing backlash. The cover features Dhee alongside Canadian singer Shan Vincent de Paul. However, there is an artist that social media feels should have also been a part of the cover, having played a huge role in the songs that made these two singers popular- Arivu. The rapper and lyricist wrote the songs Neeye Oli ( sung by Paul) and Enjoy Enjaami (co-sung by Dhee) also lending his voice to the latter.
Social media has accused the magazine and music label Maajja of "marginalising" rapper-singer Arivu, allegedly due to his caste, and sidelining him from promotions of songs that went on to become global hits. Arivu's lyrics made these songs into sharp political commentaries, thus playing a significant role in their success.
Noted Southern filmmaker PA Ranjith, known for helming movies like Kabali, Kaala and Sarpatta Parambarai also called out the magazine cover, questioning the invisibalisation of Arivu, writing, "is it so difficult to understand that the lyrics of both songs challenges this erasure of public acknowledgement?"
Several social media users and activists drew attention to the fact that the rapper was not receiving his due and caste-based bias could the the reason for this. One user wrote, "Enjoy Enjaami's core is Arivu's lyrics, his story, and the social context of displacement marginalized has to go through. Not giving a separate feature or precedence and instead, only focusing on Dhee only puts the performer at the front, whose concern will hardly be to overcome the barriers." She further added that Arivu should have been on the cover and the magazine should have featured a separate interview with him, instead of reducing his work to "dark lyricism" within the piece featured.
Many users, however, pointed out that Arivu's marginalisation began long before the PR campaign for songs that he wrote began. Activist Shalini Maria Lawrence pointed out in her tweet how despite writing and co-singing "Enjoy Enjaami", the song's title read "Dhee ft Arivu" thus indirectly making it Dhee's song. Writing that Arivu was "systematically erased" from the picture, Lawrence wrote, "Yes caste here played a major part and they expolited Arivu and his talents and betrayed him. This has happened in the past to lot of Dalits..."
Here are some other reactions to the magazine cover:
Who is Arivu?
Arivu is a 27-year-old rapper from Tamil Nadu. He shot to fame when his song "Sanda Seivom" criticising the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens went viral. His father is a professor in a government college while his mother works as a school teacher. Growing up, Arivu faced discrimination at school for his caste and skin colour. "I faced huge discrimination there (his school), but until recently I never realised it was discrimination. There were teachers who abused me by my caste name, students who taunted me for being dark," he told The Wire.
Arivu released his first poetry collection after finishing his engineering course and while completing his MBA degree. Incidentally, it was director PA Ranjith who gave the rapper his first big break with a song for the Rajinikanth starrer Kaala.
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