The DJ who united the warring tribes of French rap and dance – and died tragically young

DJ Mehdi perished in a tragic accident aged 34. A new documentary, Made in France, restores his pivotal role in the electronic music revolution that grew out of 00s Paris

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he late DJ Mehdi had a talent for bridging divides. At the height of the musician’s fame, Mehdi’s cousin Myriam Essadi recalls in a new documentary, he had to jet straight from a nightclub in Ibiza to his grandfather’s funeral in Tunisia. “He was wearing red glasses, white jeans and a jacket with a cross. In Tunisia! For our grandfather’s funeral!” Essadi laughs. “We didn’t get it. And in Tunisia you don’t mess with religion.”

DJ Mehdi: Made in France, a six-part documentary now available with English subtitles on Franco-German broadcaster Arte, revisits the life and tragic death of one of the most fascinating, influential and misunderstood French musicians of his generation.

International audiences largely know Mehdi, who died in 2011 at the age of 34, for his work with Parisian label Ed Banger in the 2000s, spearheading a new wave of French dance music alongside artists such as Justice – they of the cross logo on Mehdi’s jacket – and SebastiAn. In France, however, his legacy is more complicated, opening up questions about the rift between hip-hop and dance music, as well as underlying divisions in French society.