DJ Mehdi
Biography
Known for his affiliation with fashionable French electro label Ed Banger Records, DJ Mehdi is a producer/remixer of hip-hop and electronic dance music yet is first and foremost a DJ. Born Mehdi Favéris-Essadi in 1977 in the French commune of Gennevilliers (i.e., a northwest suburb of Paris) of Tunisian descent, he grew interested in hip-hop after discovering Public Enemy in the late '80s. DJ Mehdi established himself as a DJ/producer in the trailblazing French rap group Ideal J, which he joined in 1992 and which released two albums: O'Riginal MC's Sur une Mission (1996) and La Combat Continue (1998), the latter featuring the hit single "Hardcore." Around this same time he began doing outside production work, most notably on the 1997 MC Solaar album Paradisiaque ("Wonderbra") and a couple 113 albums (Ni Barreaux, Ni Barrières, Ni Frontières, 1998; Les Princes de la Ville, 1999). In addition, he founded the short-lived label Espionnage in 1997 along with Manu Key, whom he had worked with in the rap groups Different Teep and Mafia K'1 Fry.
DJ Mehdi began crossing over into electronic dance music in 2000 with the release of Espion le EP, an Espionnage compilation that included a diverse array of styles that blurred the lines between hip-hop and dance.
Selected Discography
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