Erick Morillo (March 26, 1971 – September 1, 2020) was a Colombian-American

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, and

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

owner. Having produced under a number of

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

s, including Ministers de la Funk, the Dronez, RAW, Smooth Touch, RBM, Deep Soul, Club Ultimate, and Li'l Mo Ying Yang, Morillo was best known for his international work in

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

, in particular for the label Strictly Rhythm, and the 1993 hit "

I Like to Move It "I Like to Move It" is a song by American solo project Reel 2 Real ( Erick Morillo), featuring ragga vocals by Trinidad and Tobago rapper The Mad Stuntman (Mark Quashie). Released by Strictly Rhythm in October 1993 as the second single from t ...

", which he produced under the

Reel 2 Real, and which was featured in commercials, movies, and ringtones. His label Subliminal Records produced the number-one ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Dance Music/Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

hit "Fun" by Da Mob, and won the ''

Muzik ''Muzik'' was a British dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003. ''Muzik'' was created by two former ''Melody Maker'' journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of ''Muzik'' from its launch until he ...

'' magazine "Remixer of the Year" award in 1999. Subliminal also brought attention to artists like Eddie Thoneick, Carl Kennedy, and DJ DLG.Izarra, Gaby (October 4, 20110
"Five outstanding highlights of Erick Morillo's career"
mybeatFix.com He was a three-time winner of

DJ Awards DJ Awards is a celebration of electronic music, and aims to recognise and honour Disc jockey, DJs and individuals who have influenced electronic dance music worldwide. Held annually in Ibiza at the end of the summer season, DJ Awards has retaine ...

"Best House DJ" in 1998, 2001, and 2003 and a three-time winner of "Best International DJ" in 2002, 2006, and 2009 receiving a total of 15 nominations in all from 1998 to 2010. Erick Morrilo was attributed as "One of the best live DJ's I ever booked in my 20 years career, as an entertainments and promotions manager, and in many of London's top venues!" said U.K. club and events promoter Terry Slade. He died from a drug overdose at his home in Miami Beach, three days before he was due to appear in court to face rape charges.

Early life

Erick Morillo was born in 1971 in New York. He spent most of his pre-teen years in

Cartagena, Colombia Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past role as a link in the route ...

, where he lived with his family, and grew accustomed to salsa and merengue music. He moved back to the United States at age 11,Ressler, Darren. "Erick Morillo Shakes Up New York". ''Mixer'' magazine. April 2000. pp. 34 – 38"About Erick Morillo"

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Artists. Retrieved December 2, 2012."Erick Morillo"
. Official Global DJ Rankings. Retrieved December 2, 2012. living with his mother, Elisa, and sister, Sheila, in an apartment at 1406 Bergenline Avenue in

Union City, New Jersey Union City is a City (New Jersey), city in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was List of municipalities in Ne ...

. Influenced by other genres such as

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

, and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, it was also at age 11 that he began DJing weddings for friends and family. He attended grammar school at

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

and

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

's School, a private Catholic school, graduating in 1985. He graduated from Emerson High School in Union City in 1989.

Career

"Muevelo" and "I Like to Move It"

Morillo took a studio engineering course at the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's Center for the Media Arts, and began DJing at local clubs, in places like the Love Sexy music lounge on Hudson Street in Hoboken. While working at a club in nearby

Weehawken Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking ...

, Morillo met Latin reggae star El General, whom he befriended. The two collaborated in 1991 on the single, "Muevelo", a mixture of reggae,

, and a sample of T99's techno single "Anasthasia" that became a surprise hit, and went platinum. As his remixes became familiar in Latin clubs, Morillo branched out through his friendship with New York house veteran "Little" Louie Vega, whom he met through then-unknown singer

Marc Anthony Marco Antonio Muñiz (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer and actor. He is the top selling salsa artist of all time. A four-time Grammy Award, eight-time Latin Grammy Award and twenty-nine-tim ...

, with whom Vega had worked on the seminal 1992 house anthem, "Ride on the Rhythm". According to Morillo, Vega advised him to "focus on vocals". Morillo's next big song came in 1993, when New York's premier house label at the time, Strictly Rhythm, released his "The New Anthem"/"Funky Buddha" 12. The song did well in the charts and in clubs, garnering attention for Morillo. Later that year, Strictly Rhythm released the Reel 2 Real's second single "I Like to Move It". The song, which has been described by ''Mixer'' as "part Euro-cheese, part pop A&R man's wet dream", became a staple international dance hit for both Reel 2 Real and Strictly Rhythm. It made Morillo a millionaire and thrust him into a globe-trotting life that included weekly trips to Europe to tape

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV as 24-hour music video and entertainment pay television network officially launched on 1 August 1987 as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initia ...

in between stateside promotions. In response to the song's success, Morillo recorded the full-length album ''Move It!'', which was released in 1994, and spawned several singles that did particularly well in England. This was followed by a 1996 album from which several other singles were released, most notably "Mueve la Cadera" ("Move Your Body").

From Reel 2 Real to Subliminal

Despite being believed to have made over $2 million from Reel 2 Real, Morillo feared that his financial success may have hurt both his creative drive and his street credibility. Wanting to create respectable house music, he produced "Jazz It Up", launching it under the label of the Erick Morillo Project, in order to ensure street credibility. The song did well, and boosted his confidence. He and Louie Vega collaborated as Lil' Mo' Ying Yang and released the 1995 single "Reach". Morillo intended a third album for Reel to Real, but his relationship with the Mad Stuntman soured, which derailed the project. Searching for a way to reinvent himself, Morillo attended The Forum, a

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is "a focus on self-guided, in contrast to professionally guided, efforts to cope with life problems" —economically, physically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. When ...

seminar in New York City, where he gained insight into finding happiness through things other than wealth and his frantic work schedule. The seminar also enabled him to escape his creative rut by helping him analyze his past and set future goals, one of which was to become a successful global DJ. He abandoned the Reel 2 Real alias in 1996, and concentrated on DJing, becoming a favorite in

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

, Europe and Australia. Finishing his relationship with Strictly Rhythm, Morillo took the advice of Strictly Rhythm owner Mark Finkelstein, whom Morillo calls "a fair person and a business mentor", and decided to distance himself from R2R's pop past. In 1997, he partnered with Christina Pazzanese, who worked with DJ Sneak, Junior Sanchez, Josh Wink and Armand van Helden at X-Mix, and together, they launched Subliminal Records and Subliminal Management. Pazzanese, who came up with the subliminal name, directed both the label and the management companies while Morillo oversaw A&R and rebuilt his image. DJ Sneak and Jr. Sanchez came over with Pazzanese, joining Morillo's friends, DJ/producers José Nunez and Harry Choo Choo Romero."About"
Subliminal Records. Retrieved January 16, 2013. Morillo described Subliminal's sound as "ghetto music", branded with European-designed record sleeves, "but with class". Its first single was 1998's "Fun", which featured

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

diva Dajae, and drew positive response via test pressings and buzz across the Atlantic. However, Dajae refused to sign the contract with Subliminal, so vocalist

Jocelyn Brown Jocelyn Lorette Brown (born November 25, 1950), sometimes credited as Jocelyn Shaw, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and dance music, dance singer. She has a Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart entry solely in her name. Brown sang ...

was hired to re-record the vocals. Brown's collaboration with Subliminal is known as " Da Mob", and their version of "Fun" became a #1

hit. Eventually, DJ Sneak left with Pazzanese in 1998 for her firm, Tight Artist Management, in New York City. Junior Sanchez also left Subliminal management in late 1998. The remaining trio of Morillo, Romero and Nunez are also known as the remix team the Dronez. With Subliminal, Morillo achieved financial success. The trio won ''

'' magazine's Remixer of the Year award in 1999.

Club nights

In late 1999, Morillo completed a U.S. tour. His club night "Subliminal Night" in New York City featured Danny Tenaglia,

Darren Emerson Darren Paul Emerson (born 30 April 1971) is an English musician, DJ and producer best known as a former member of the British electronic music group Underworld. Career Early life Emerson began mixing hip hop records at the age of 14, and by ...

Bob Sinclar Christophe Le Friant (; born 10 May 1969), better known by his stage name Bob Sinclar (), is a French record producer, DJ, and remixer. He is the owner of the record label Yellow Productions. Musical career A native of Paris, Le Friant began D ...

, Derrick Carter, Tiger Tim Stevens, Mark Farina and Tony Humphries in guest spots. Morillo has also hosted various other club nights across the globe, such as his mid-week Subliminal Sessions parties at Champs in New York. When they were evicted from that venue, the Sessions relaunched at Centro-Fly. Commenting on his socializing with promoters, Morillo says:

I party with the promoters I play for. A lot of DJs don't like to do that; they play the party, go back to the hotel and then get ready to go home. Not me. I don't deny it! For me a DJ is someone who brings a vibe. If you don't party, then how do you bring that vibe?

Morillo hosted various other club nights across the globe, such as the annual Crobar party in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

(ULTRA), and his legendary Subliminal Sessions parties at Pacha in Ibiza, which was named "Best International Club" of 2002 and "Best Ibiza Party" of 2001 by ''Muzik'' magazine. Ibiza is also where Morillo was crowned "Best International DJ" in 2002 and "Best House DJ" in 1999 and 2001 at the Pacha Ibiza awards. He has been known to play up to 30 jobs a month in locations including

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Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

."Erick Morillo: Biography"
. Palladium. Retrieved January 16, 2013. According to Morillo, his most memorable job was on Ibiza's White Isle after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

: "I was playing the closing party of the Space Terrace straight after September 11th. I ended the night with

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

's 'New York, New York'. People were crying and waving American flags, everybody was singing. It's my most emotional memory as a DJ." In addition to his

MTV UK MTV is a British pay television channel focusing on reality TV and music programming operated by Paramount Networks UK & Australia. The channel launched as part of MTV Networks Europe localisation strategy in 1997. MTV UK (previously MTV UK & I ...

appearances, Morillo hosted MTV Ibiza for two years, presented the UK's Dancestar Awards, and starred in a seven-part Channel 4 series documenting his world travels as a party DJ. He has also worked on short films with actor Mark Alex Hanna. In 2004, he released his first album under his real name, ''My World'', which features collaborations with such artists as Sean "Diddy" Combs, who collaborated with Morillo on three tracks, including the dancefloor hit "Dance I Said". The label has also spawned other labels, such as Sondos, Subliminal Soul, Bambossa and SUBUSA. The label was distributed by Strictly Rhythm until that label ceased operations in 2002. Today, Subliminal is independently distributed, although Strictly Rhythm reopened its doors in 2007. Morillo drew attention in June 2013 when he failed to appear at a June 6 show in Long Island, and then on June 12 when he had to be escorted off stage 45 minutes into a set, due to "erratic behavior." According to reports, Morillo appeared to be dazed when he began his set, and his condition worsened after he began it. At one point, he vanished from view, leaving a single loop playing over and over. Morillo later stated on his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

page, "The time has come to take a break and refocus my attention on my health and well-being."

Awards and accolades

On October 11, 2012, Morillo's former home town of Union City, New Jersey honored him in a ceremony in which the portion of Bergenline Avenue between 14th and 15th Street, where Morillo lived as a youth, was dedicated "Erick Morillo Way". Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack praised Morillo, who donated 100 Nook tablets to a local school, by commenting, "It's important to recognize those in the community who contribute to our hometown," Union City Mayor Brian Stack said. "We can all be proud to call Erick a part of our community."

Sexual assault accusations

On August 6, 2020, Morillo was arrested and charged with sexual battery upon a woman. In December 2019, Morillo and his accuser were working as DJs at a private party on Star Island in

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

, and later went to his Miami Beach home. She told detectives that she got drunk and passed out alone in a bedroom, later waking nude with him standing beside her, also nude. A

rape kit A rape kit or rape test kit is a package of items used by medical, police or other personnel for gathering and preserving physical evidence following an instance or allegation of sexual assault. The evidence collected from the victim can aid the ...

test performed on the woman tested positive for Morillo's DNA. Morillo denied the accusation, but turned himself in to police on the advice of his attorney on August 6, 2020. He was due to appear in court on September 4, but was found dead at his home on September 1. Shortly after his death, nine additional women came forward with accusations of rape or sexual assault by Morillo. The accusations spanned 27 years, the majority of his working career. The victims included dancers, record company workers, journalists, camera crew and DJs and frequently involved involuntary administration of drugs. At least one victim left the music industry after working with Morillo and another was admitted to hospital after "a catalogue of both emotional and physical abuse".

Death

Morillo was found dead at his home on La Gorce Drive in Miami Beach, Florida, on September 1, 2020. The cause of his death was not immediately known, but Miami police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said there were no apparent signs of foul play. According to a preliminary report released on October 13, 2020, by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner, Morillo died accidentally of "acute

ketamine Ketamine is a cyclohexanone-derived general anesthetic and NMDA receptor antagonist with analgesic and hallucinogenic properties, used medically for anesthesia, depression, and pain management. Ketamine exists as its S- (esketamine) a ...

toxicity", with

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy (tablet form), and molly (crystal form), is an empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor Psychedelic drug, psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used ...

and

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

use listed as contributing factors. The final autopsy report concluded his death was an accident due to "acute ketamine toxicity", while also listing possible

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

infection in the weeks before his death.

Discography

Awards

DJ Awards

Morillo won the DJ Award for "Best International DJ Award" three times, the "Best House DJ Award" three times, and received a total of 15 nominations. , - , 1998 , Erick Morillo , Best House/Garage DJ , , - , 2000 , Erick Morillo , Best House DJ , , - , 2001 , Erick Morillo , Best House DJ , , - , 2002 , Erick Morillo , Best International DJ , , - , 2002 , Erick Morillo , Best House DJ , , - , 2003 , Erick Morillo , Best House DJ , , - , 2004 , Erick Morillo , Best House DJ , , - , 2005 , Erick Morillo , Best International DJ , , - , 2006 , Erick Morillo , Best International DJ , , - , 2006 , Erick Morillo , Best House DJ , , - , 2007 , Erick Morillo , Best House DJ , , - , 2008 , Erick Morillo , Best International DJ , , - , 2009 , Erick Morillo , Best International DJ , , - , 2010 , Erick Morillo , Best House DJ , , - , 2011 , Erick Morillo , Best House DJ ,

International Dance Music Awards

At the annual

Winter Music Conference The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings togethe ...

, Morillo won the "Best American DJ award (2005) and he has been nominated 10 times overall.

Muzik Awards

'' was a UK

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

magazine published by

IPC Media TI Media Ltd. (formerly International Publishing Company, IPC Magazines Ltd, IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of it ...

from June 1995 to August 2003. , - , 1999 , Erick Morillo , Re-mixer of the Year ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morillo, Erick 1971 births 2020 deaths 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American musicians American dance musicians American electronic musicians American club DJs Colombian emigrants to the United States Colombian people of African descent DJs from New York City Drug-related deaths in Florida American electronic dance music DJs Emerson High School (Union City, New Jersey) alumni People from Union City, New Jersey American progressive house musicians

Early life

Career

"Muevelo" and "I Like to Move It"

From Reel 2 Real to Subliminal

Club nights

Awards and accolades

Sexual assault accusations

Death

Discography

Awards

DJ Awards

International Dance Music Awards

Muzik Awards

See also

References

External links