DJ Mehdi and Busy P circa 2011
So Me
When you lose someone great in your life, you want to get on the roof and scream about their passion, their humor, their legacy. Luckily for Pedro Winter, he’s actually in a position to do just that.
As founding manager of the legendary French house label Ed Banger, Winter — known to many as Busy P — has given a platform to luminary artists including Justice, Mr. Oizo and Breakbot. One friend of the family, DJ Mehdi, made an impact across genres and borders, and though his life was tragically cut short in 2011 at the age of 34, Winter is keeping his friend’s legacy alive by releasing the first new DJ Mehdi track since his passing.
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Listen to this song, “MPC 2021,” below:
Even before he joined the Ed Banger crew, DJ Mehdi was considered an icon of the French rap scene. He was DJing at 15 and making beats for the trio Idéal J. Soon, he was a producer for the iconic M.C. Solaar and became the in-house music man for French hip-hop group 113. He’s credited as a major force in bringing the worlds of French rap and dance music together, and in 2006, his solo album Lucky Boy became the first official Ed Banger LP release.
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Mehdi’s music synthesized a wide array of influences and presented something immediately fresh, positive and full of attitude. His DJ sets were wild, energetic affairs, whether he was playing by himself or alongside his pal Riton with their duo Carte Blanche. His anything-goes approach to cool embodied the openness and experimentation of what we now call the bloghouse era, and “MPC 2021” is a nod to everything he really loved. (The release of “MPC 2021” is further celebrated today in the first episode of Ed Banger’s new Apple Radio show, Ed Wrecked.)
Built around a repetitive flamenco guitar sample, the song features verses from DJ Mehdi friend and collaborator Santigold as well as Benjamin Epps, a young rapper on the French hip-hop scene. Both artists sing the praises of the fallen producer with a hook that says in French “we turned the sound up hoping he could hear it up there.” There’s even a nod to its recording in Motorbass Studio, a beloved space created by fellow Ed Banger signee Philippe Zdar of Cassius, who was also a major producer in the French rap scene and also passed away tragically in 2019.
“Those losses are terrible in a more personal way, but as a friend, an artist and relationship, they are also giving us strength and energy,” Winter tells Billboard. “Now, I have to live double or triple time. You have to live for them.”
How did you first meet Mehdi?
In 1998, we were doing a party in New York with Daft Punk, Cassius, Francois Kevorkian and Romanthony. Mehdi was working in the studio with the Cassius boys. They were making hip-hop before for M.C. Solaar. He is a French big M.C., and they took him with them in the plane and told him, “Hey, you seem to like French house, come to New York.” He was of course in love with New York. We met that night in 1998, and since then we became best friends. I was a bit older than him, and also because I was more involved in the music business, he asked me to become his manager. Mehdi, in fact, is the second artist I accept being his manager after Daft Punk.
In 2001, he rented an apartment in New York to work on some music. At the time he was really traveling all over the world with his MPC3000 sampler drum machine. I joined him for a week and also brought my samplers, and we started to make some music together. We started to jam and make stuff, and we did this song I’m releasing 20 years later. We didn’t finish it at the time, and after that for some reason, we never really spoke about it. It was on a floppy disk. In fact, the artwork is the actual floppy disk.
When did that floppy disk resurface?
I had this floppy disk in my basement, and I felt it was the right time. I don’t know why, but probably some good energy coming from above. Mehdi passed away in 2011, and I realized it was 10 years later when I was working on the song. I said, “Wow, it’s crazy symbolism. We started 20 years ago. It’s been 10 years since he left, and the song, I want to make it.” I think there is some mystical forces.
What about these features?
I wanted the beat to become a song, and I called Santigold, which is an artist we love that Mehdi was a big fan of. Mehdi did a remix of “Lights Out” back in the day. I know Santi really loved Mehdi’s energy, and she loves his music. She immediately accepted my invitation, which makes her an even greater person, because I know she’s really famous and talented, and a lot of people are asking about her.
I also wanted some French rap on it, and I’ve asked Benjamin Epps who is a new French M.C. He’s only 26 years old, but he’s so talented. I could have called a very famous French M.C., but I wanted the opposite. I wanted a new one, because Santi is the big star, and Benjamin is more a newcomer. I’m very, very proud of the casting. It’s what the song deserves.
What does this release accomplish in terms of new audiences?
Now, I’m putting on my label manager hat — but also, I think it was important to bring back Mehdi’s name, especially on the platforms of Apple Music and Spotify, because those platforms always put the news on top. Sadly, Mehdi’s music — because no one is really digging on those platforms — needed to be brought back. Doing this, having his name as a main artist, is also a way to invite new kids to put some light on this project; a new generation to say, “we know Ed Banger, we know Busy P,” and some of them are going to discover DJ Mehdi; go back to his first album and listen to Lucky Boy that we released in 2006.
The sadness and the pain, it’s inside each of us in a more personal way, but now it’s been [more than] 10 years, and I think my role as a big brother is to make sure his music and his legacy can live. That’s my responsibility now.
I love that it is a hip-hop track. I was turned on to Mehdi’s dance tracks. They’re very electro, and they have this essence of hip-hop in them, but it’s only more recently that I’ve learned what a large role he played in the French hip-hop scene. I’ve been turned on to his group 113. Were you the one who got Thomas Bangalter to do that song with them?
Of course! That was an amazing story, because Mehdi has always been a big fan of Daft Punk. Really, Daft Punk changed his mind, and he was really obsessed with the skills and the talent of Daft Punk. I was happy to be the link, and Thomas and Guy-Manuel, they loved and really respected Mehdi, too. We hang out a lot together, and one day Mehdi was in the studio working with 113 on the song. He comes in and says, “Pedro. I would love a vocoder on this song. Do you know someone who can give me a vocoder?” I say, “Oh yeah, I know few people. Let me try something,” and I arrive at the studio with Thomas of Daft Punk, and Mehdi couldn’t believe it.
I don’t know if anyone would believe that.
Even myself! I couldn’t believe Thomas was telling yes to me. They were good at telling me no to everything. That was crazy, and especially for Thomas to accept a song in French lyrics, where he is saying “113 Fout le Merde,” which means, uh, “113 brings s–t, makes” — well, you know what I mean. [Editor’s note: the phrase translates “f–k the s–t.”] So it was funny to hear Thomas accepting to go that far away from what people know about Daft Punk — but again, that was the magic of Mehdi being magnetic. You met Mehdi only once, and you’d remember. “Oh, I remember he was a good storyteller.” “Oh, Mehdi, he could speak about The Beatles for an hour.” “Oh, Mehdi was the best dancer behind the decks.” “Oh Mehdi, etc. etc.”
Again, I have this responsibility as a label manager and as a friend. I’m full of power and energy that he gave me. Now, I can just be happy I met him and I’m feeling this energy. Sadly, you know the history also with Philippe Zdar of Cassius who passed with similar circumstances. Those losses are terrible in a more personal way, but as a friend, an artist and relationship, they are also giving us strength and energy. Now, I have to live double or triple time. You have to live for them.
It took you 20 years to finish this song and decide to put it out, but was Mehdi a producer who had his hand in a lot of things that we just never really got to see?
It was constant. He was making music all the time. There is plenty of music. I’m kind of opening the treasure box; the vault. It will take time, but there is a lot of stuff that we can — that we should share, and now we have to think about how we can celebrate his legacy and share his music. Of course, we’re going to do it in a respectful way. We are very close to his mother, his son, his wife. It’s definitely full of respect and, as I said, I really hope his music can touch a new generation.
Is there anything else you want the world to know about Mehdi?
Again, he was always spreading a good energy. You can ask Tiga, Erol Alkan, Diplo, Amanda Blank, Anna Lunoe — a lot of different various people in all different countries, and they will all tell you that he was special. He was definitely that one person that brings everybody together; the link. He was definitely that person.