“DJ Mehdi: Made in France” tells the dazzling story of a young suburbanite of Tunisian origin who carved out a place for himself in the world of hip-hop and electro. Mixing archive footage and testimonies, the six episodes broadcast by Arte TV pay tribute to a virtuoso of sounds who passed away too soon.
Directed by Thibaut de Longeville, “DJ Mehdi: Made in France” delves into the story of a musical genius little known to the general public. Mehdi Faveris-Essadi, his real name, left his mark on French hip-hop and electro for around fifteen years, before tragically passing away at the age of 34.
The documentary series pays tribute to him through six episodes made up of archives and testimonies.
Breakthrough in rap
Born in 1977 in Asnières-sur-Seine in the Paris region, little Mehdi learned to handle his parents’ vinyl records before learning to read and write. During his childhood, he developed a passion for the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Steve Greenwood. It was by hearing these guitar heroes sampled later by the Beastie Boys, he began to take an interest in hip-hop in the mid-1980s.
With his cousins, Mehdi decides to start a rap group called Légitime défense. Mehdi takes care of the instrumental parts and does it so well that he is quickly spotted by the big names of the time: Dee Nasty and Ministère AMER In 1992, then aged fifteen, Mehdi meets the rapper Kery James. At the time, the young musician needs someone for the instrumental parts. Mehdi becomes DJ Mehdi.
In 1999, the adventure ended for the group and DJ Mehdi then set up his own label, Espionnage. This was followed by several collaborations with many artists: Booba, MC Solaar, Diam’s, Oxmo Puccino or 113, to name a few.
Switch to electro
While composing for rappers Fabe and Disiz la Peste, Medhi also produced film soundtracks, notably for Romain Gavras, then gradually added electro to his samples and mixed more and more in the evening. In 2002, he met Zdar and Boombass, the members of Cassius who, like him, had moved from hip-hop to electro.
DJ Mehdi quickly became a big name in French Touch and in 2006 joined Cassius, Justice and Daft Punk on the Parisian electronic label Ed Banger Records. During the same year, he released his third album entitled “Lucky Boy”.
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Always looking for new sounds and new collaborations, DJ Mehdi founded Carte Blanche in 2010 with the British artist Riton. Together, they released an EP in tribute to the pioneers of house, still under the Ed Banger label.
In 2011, DJ Mehdi tragically died at his home in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. The glass mezzanine he was on collapsed. His death was pronounced a few hours later, on September 13, 2011. The world of hip-hop and electro was in shock. Tributes poured in, celebrating the friend, the daring producer and the turntable magician.
“DJ Medhi: Made in France” offers to (re)discover the trajectory of this musical precursor, who left his mark on many people along the way.
Davy Bailly-Basin
Web adaptation: Sarah Clément
“DJ Mehdi: Made in France” by Thibaut de Longeville. Six documentary episodes to watch on Arte TV, from September 12, 2024.
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