Cut Killer

Biography

Anouar Hajoui (Arabic: أنور حجوي, Anūr Ḥājawī; born 6 May 1971), better known as DJ Cut Killer or simply Cut Killer, is a Moroccan-French DJ and record producer with a versatile repertoire of hip-hop music. He is considered one of France's biggest DJs.
Hajoui grew his international fame, particularly in the United States of America, through invitations from DJ Big Dawg Pitbulls of Funkmaster Flex and Shadyville DJ's of rapper 50 Cent. For more than fifteen years, he has been one of the leading DJs in French hip hop.

Early life

Anouar Hajoui was born in Meknes, Morocco in 1971. As a young Parisian who loved music and a activist who wholeheartedly embraced the emerging Parisian movement. He joined IZB, the first association to promote the hip-hop and organize concerts, and put down scratches on Original MC's 1991 album. He performed a memorable role as himself in a scene from the cult movie La Haine. He was a DJ for MC Solaar's concerts, scratcher on IAM member Akhenaton's solo album, and a radio show on Radio Nova.

Career

In the middle of the 1990s, Cut Killer had already become a well-respected and active DJ. He adapted and consolidated New York hip-hop in France through many of his mix tapes, mixing the latest releases and freestyles of French rap, they became favorites and collector's items. The big number of top brass of the second generation of French rap went through this: Sages Poètes de la Rue, Lunatic, 113 and many others. The Hip Hop Soul Party series, composed of double mixed CDs, started in 1996 at MCA's. From the second volume on, exclusive tracks began to appear from Fabe, Busta Flex, among others, with one CD dedicated to hip-hop, the other to R&B. In volume three, a CD was dedicated to international hip-hop, the other to French hip-hop.
Killer, after the death of his rapper mate, East, established a label called Double H (for Hip-Hop) as a merchandising company and then a production label. In a few years, HH became one of the most influential independent labels on the market. When shifting from Universal to Small (Sony), the Hip-Hop Soul Party project became the Cut Killer Show with a first double CD published in 1997 (containing an outro by Jamel Debbouze), followed in 1998 by Operation Freestyle, a record fully dedicated to French underground. In 1999, Cut Killer and his associates produced R&B 2000, the collective album Double H DJ Crew, but also highly respected artists such as Fabe, Doudou Masta and 113, who managed to make their album Les Princes de la Ville a platinum record to end up winning two "Victoires de la Musique" (French music awards) in 2000. Double H is still developing with a team of street marketing, a clothing line "HH Wear", a publishing company called "Eastory Editions", followed by another production and publishing label "Eastory Production". Besides, Killer is booked by Chaos Prod agency, created by his brother Chakri.
As The Hip-Hop Soul Party and Cut Killer Show series reached the top of the charts and brought in gold and platinum awards, Cut Killer delegated R&B to his longtime accomplice, DJ Abdel, West Coast music to the specialist DJ Cream, and gave himself a try with dancehall Ragga Killa Show, before coming back to the French sound with 1 Son 2 Rue. Over the years, Cut Killer made or produced about twenty mixed albums.
Fond of the cinema, Cut Killer mixed music in La Haine, where he played music from Édith Piaf and NTM on KRS-One's beat. Many offers followed and he signed several tracks on the OSTs of Zak Fishman's Gamer, Fred Garson's The Dancer, and Miguel Courtois' Un Ange. He signed the complete score for Fabrice Genstal's La Squale, with Herve Rakoto and Sofiane Le Cat's, followed by Le Raid (Djamel Bensallah), Trois Zéro (Fabien Onteniente), Peau d’Ange (Vincent Perez)...
In the middle of the decade, Cut Killer returned to the fundamentals of dee-jaying on radio, and after four years on Radio Nova, he joined Skyrock, where he has a weekly show the best of global hip-hop evolution. He became the first French DJ booked in the USA through Funkmaster Flex' DJ Big Dawg Pitbulls and 50 Cent's Shadyville DJs.
Cut Killer mixes urban style, with rock, pop, and reggae, in venues in Asia, Europe, USA, and Australia bringing down barriers the barriers of language and geography.

Albums

2003: Hip hop Soul Party 6
2003: Party Jam
2003: Mastamorphoze
2003: HH Classics volume 1
2002: Ragga Killa Show
2002: La Rage de Dire
2002: Le Prologue
2001: Double H Dj Crew
2001: Hip Hop Soul Party 5
2001: Cut Killer Show 2
2001: R&B 2000 International
2000: Hip Hop Soul Party 4
1998: Cut Killer Show
1998: Opération Freestyle
1998: Détournement de Son
1998: Trop Loin
1998: Eastwoo
1997: Mal Partis
1996: Hip Hop Soul Party 1
1996: Hip Hop Soul Party 2
1996: Hip hop Soul Party 3

Film themes (OST)

1995 : La Haine, Mathieu Kassovitz (1 titre)
2000 : Gamer, Valentin Rousseau (3 titres)
2000 : The Dancer, Fred Garson (post synchro)
2001 : Un ange, Michel Courtois (1 titre)
2001 : La squale, Fabrice Genestal (intégralité)

Participations

2004 : Liberté d'expression 2
2005 : Comités de brailleurs

DVDs

2002 : DJ School feat. Various DJs
2004 : DVDeejay feat. Various DJs
2004 : RnB invasion
2005 : The Cut Killer Show

Clubs appearances & residences

Base Club (Dubai)
Palais (Cannes)
Boudoir (Dubai)
VIP Room (Cannes, Paris, St Tropez)
St Germain (Zurich)
Platinum (Geneva)
NOXX (Anvers)
Kiss & Fly (New York)
B Club (Moscow)
Chinawhite (London)
Pacha (Ibiza)
Pacha (Marrakech)
Bora Bora (Sousse)
Via Notte (Porto Vecchio)
Karement (Monaco)
Planches (Deauville)
Dune (Toulouse)
Macumba
Indochine (Zurich)
Bar Rouge (Shanghai)
Mix (Beijing)
Mint (Hong Kong)
Zone Club (Prishtina, Kosovo)
He also mixed for: Nike, MTV, Foot Locker, SNCF, PlayStation, Sobieski, Europa, Toyota, Première, Nintendo, Canal +, J&B, Adidas, Philips, Chaumet, Chopard, Agnès B, Puma, Louis Vuitton, Universal, Sony, Apple, Blackberry

Actor

1995: La Haine as DJ
1998: Hang the DJ as himself
2000: The Dancer as DJ Atomic
2006: Arthur et les Minimoys as DJ Easy Low (uncredited)
2008: 9 – Un chiffre, un homme as himself