Born in 1961, Deenasty (aka Dee Nasty) discovered hip-hop in 1979 when staying in New York. Graffiti, breakdancing, and rap music -- all major forms of expression of the nascent hip-hop movement -- were right there. When he returned to France, he was so hooked up that he chose to be part of it. In 1982, he took his chance in pirate radio with his accomplice, Lionel D. At the end of 1984, his first, self-produced album, Paname City Rappin', was issued on his Funkzilla label -- it was the first French rap album to be released, with Deenasty on the mike and behind the mixing desk. He didn't find himself particularly good on the mike, so he decided to stick to production and DJing only from then on. It is revealing to note that his telephone number was even listed on the back cover; given that rap was known only by a few people and distribution was nonexistent, phone calls by the thousands wouldn't be a big problem. Rap was not part of the music industry yet. Breakdancing and graffiti already had some followers in the Hexagon, but rap didn't break through before the end of the '80s -- in fact, rap music was said to be in decline by 1984. By 1985, Deenasty was organizing battles in a piece of wasteland in the La Chapelle area with Lionel D.; he advertised by putting flyers in the record sleeves of funk and U.S. rap albums. He discovered some of the future names of the French movement, NTM and Assassin, in sessions that mixed all elements of hip-hop in the same place. From this period, Deenasty became well-known, and even more so with the organization of concerts for Afrika Bambaataa and Public Enemy, where he opened the shows. He also did some shows with Ice-T, Spoonie Gee, George Clinton, and Maceo Parker (with whom he would continue to collaborate for a while). In parallel, he performed on a legal radio station, Radio Nova, with his fellow master of ceremonies Lionel D. His shows were sparking new talents as he encouraged them to send demo tapes. Artists like IAM, MC Solaar, NTM, Minister A.M.E.R., and Assassin were widely discovered on his Deenastyle show, and he even invited some to appear on the radio. But there was still no new album of French rap until the beginning of 1990, when the Rapatitude compilation gathering the next generation of MCs would see the light; most of them were discovered thanks to Deenasty. He released a double album in 1991, Dee Nasty, and then his third album, called Deenastyle, in 1993, introducing DJ Cut Killer and DJ Abdel, who would become major figures in the French hip-hop sound in the '90s. Later, he would collaborate with Manu le Malin on a hard tech/electro track, multiply his collaborations with musicians in other genres, and continuously release remixes and new titles on compilations. In 2002, Deenasty invited many DJ friends for the shooting of a DVD, DJ School, that explains this art to new practitioners. More than just a lesson on the techniques of scratching and mixing, it also highlights the true history of DJ'ing. ~ Vincent Latz