DJ Mehdi

Known for his ties to the stylish French electro imprint Ed Banger Records, DJ Mehdi worked as a producer and remixer across hip-hop and electronic dance music, yet his lasting reputation rests chiefly on his skills behind the decks. Born Mehdi Favéris-Essadi in 1977 in the Paris suburb of Hauts-de-Seine to parents of Tunisian origin, he first encountered hip-hop through Public Enemy during the closing years of the 1980s. In 1992 he joined the pioneering French rap collective Ideal J, contributing to their two albums, O'Riginal MC's Sur une Mission (1996) and La Combat Continue (1998), the second of which contained the hit single “Hardcore.” Concurrently he supplied outside beats, most prominently for MC Solaar’s 1997 release Paradisiaque on the track “Wonderbra” and for two 113 projects: Ni Barreaux, Ni Barrières, Ni Frontières (1998) and Les Princes de la Ville (1999). That same year he co-established the short-lived Espionnage label with Manu Key, a collaborator from his earlier stints in Different Teep and Mafia K'1 Fry.

His shift toward electronic dance music began in 2000 when Espionnage issued the compilation Espion le EP, whose varied tracks deliberately merged hip-hop and club rhythms. Further production credits on Karlito’s Contenu Sous Pression (2001) and 113’s Fout la Merde (2002) preceded the release of his own debut album, (The Story Of) Espion, on the EMI subsidiary Delabel. Seeking representation, he approached longtime acquaintance Pedro Winter, also known as Busy P, the manager who had guided Daft Punk and was then launching Ed Banger Records. Under the alias Espion, DJ Mehdi appeared on the label in 2003 with “Anything Is Possible,” the B-side to Justice’s “Never Be Alone.”

His first proper Ed Banger outing under his own name arrived in 2006 as the four-track EP I Am Somebody, featuring Kenny Dope of Masters at Work remixes; the record gained underground traction and was later licensed for a 2007 XM Satellite Radio advertisement in the United States. The full-length Lucky Boy followed later that year on Ed Banger, as did Loukoums, an archival mix album issued as a tribute to the late J Dilla and modeled on the producer’s 2006 Stones Throw release Donuts. Subsequent projects included the 2007 remix collection Lucky Boy at Night, the four-track EP Lucky Girl, the blue-vinyl split 7-inch Your Way or Mine? with Kavinsky on Arcade Mode, and the 2008 Mixmag mix CD Ed Banger Ménage-à-Trois, which also spotlighted Feadz and Pedro Winter. In 2011 Mehdi died at age 34 after falling through a collapsed roof.