DJ Mehdi

french DJ and producer DJ Mehdi has left a lasting imprint on electronic music and rap since his untimely death in 2011. Born to a French father and Tunisian mother in Asnières-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine) on January 20, 1977, Mehdi Favéris-Essaïdi grew up in Gennevilliers and discovered rap at the age of ten. Moving to Paris, he made his first mixes on cassette, before meeting Kéry James, with whom he collaborated as DJ and composer with the group Idéal J, from 1991 to 1999. In 1995, he joined the Mafia K'1 Fry collective, becoming its regular producer, and collaborated with the group 113, which won two Victoires de la Musique awards for the album Les Princes de la Ville (1999), on which he worked with Pone, Manu Key and Cut Killer. In 1997, DJ Mehdi founded his own Espionnage label, under which he released his own productions, including the collective EP Espion, the EP (2000), and the album (The Story of) Espion (2002), with contributions from Lil Dap, Rim'K, Akhenaton and Diam's. In 2006, he signed to Ed Banger Records and expanded his sound palette with the album Lucky Boy, followed by the remixed version Lucky Boy at Night (2007), the EP Lucky Girl (2007) and Red, Black & Blue (2009), a generous opus featuring the crème de la crème of the French Touch's flagship label, including Busy P, Joakim, Etienne de Crécy, New Young Pony Club, Chromeo, Sébastien Tellier and Cassius. The DJ, always well supported, then produced the mixtapes Mehdi Mixmas (2009), Dear Summer (2010), Let the Children Techno (2011), co-credited with Busy P, and Tunisian Summer Mix (2011). On September 13, 2011, DJ Mehdi died in hospital following a fall at home. His legacy lives on in the documentary DJ Mehdi: Made in France (2024).