What is DJ Mehdi’s reaction to?

Available on the Arte website, all six episodes DJ Mehdi Made in France have already captivated an audience of over 4 million. Young, old, music lovers and novices were all amazed by the talent and legacy of the musician, who died in 2011 at the age of 34. But also by the fact that his journey calls into question the definition of that we attribute to “genius” while we wonder about our times when success is measured primarily by numbers, with algorithms and other statistics.

Outside of social classes

Mehdi Faveris-Essadi quickly ticked the many boxes of an unusual trajectory; A child of mixed race growing up in the town of Genevilliers near Paris, captivated by music, between the French song and the Tunisian melodies that washed over his family, he went fast, very fast; Self-taught, he made his first sampler at age 12, joined a record label with Ideal J at age 15, founded his own label Espionnage at age 20, and signed music. Uncle of the Earthcult name of the group 113, at the age of 23.

But is genius measured only by its precocity (as with Mozart) or by its brilliance (as with the Beatles, twelve albums in just ten years) in its own book? The Prodigies: (Ed. Transcontinental), the American journalist Malcolm Gladwell spread the theory that the essence of genius is not only the gift of art, science or sports, but also the 10,000 hours of practice (at least ) that we devote to it.

British writer Nick Hornby in a recent essay about his two personal idols. Dickens and the Prince (Ed. Stock), adds “consumption”. In the case of DJ Mehdi, passionate immersion in albums by Kratfwerk, Jimi Hendrix or Curtis Mayfield, in obscure funk records like hip-hop classics. With DJ Mehdi’s hit 113, it was possible to cross the boundaries that separated rap, song and electronic. Uncle of the Earthwhose refrain (“Lé, lé, la!”) has remained in the ears of France, across all social classes, since 2000.

“After all, people”

But every genius also has its dark side.To not spoil the myth or out of modesty? If the documentary touches only on the pitfalls of its hero’s career (the fortune to be paid to the rights holders of the Raï sample, on which it is based. Uncle of the Earththe failure of his first solo album, the break-up we assume is bittersweet with 113), he nevertheless reveals that DJ Mehdi slipped up, questioning himself.

He overcame these obstacles by turning to another world, the world of French Touch, within whose label Ed Banger he became one of the mainstays, always pushing the boundaries of his demands (never doing the same thing twice was one of his mantras. Contribute French). to the construction of a new part of culture that the whole world knows how to catch fire, as proved once again by the ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. DJ Mehdi’s images: glowing, sweaty, behind his turntables in front of a crowd in trance, testify to this; than disappear.

Until his death, as cruel as it is absurd. It comes too late to belong to the “27 club”. It’s too early to start a career that we assume would be brilliant.What we’re also learning DJ Mehdi Made in Franceis that geniuses are made of flesh and blood, strokes of brilliance as well as weakness.

And that’s what makes them “human”. man after all To cover Daft Punk. DJ Mehdi overcame his doubts by following one essential line: his intuition. There is no magic formula calculated by algorithms. This is perhaps the most inspiring thing about it. Every now and then we have our own strokes of genius.

DJ Mehdi Made in FranceBy Thibaut de Longueville, at arte.fr until July 31, 2027.