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 a nightclub or music f ...

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, and

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

owner. Having produced under a number of

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

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 music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering ...

, in particular for the label

Strictly Rhythm Strictly Rhythm is an American house music record label. History Strictly Rhythm relaunched in 2007 after a five-year break, following a venture with Warner Music. The label made a number of its recordings available for digital download and sig ...

, and the 1993 hit " I Like to Move It", 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 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 "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.

Early life

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

Cartagena, Colombia Cartagena ( , also ), 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, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a lin ...

, 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 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 in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census the city had a total population of 68,589,reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...

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

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

and Michael'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 or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

'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 Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 ...

. While working at a club in nearby

Weehawken Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.

, Morillo met Latin reggae star

El General Edgardo Armando Franco (born 27 September 1969), better known as El General, is a Panamanian former reggae artist considered by some to be one of the fathers of "Reggae en Español". During the early 1990s, he was one of the artists who initiate ...

, 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 Rivera (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. A three-time Grammy Award and six-time Latin G ...

, 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 as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

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 self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...

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, 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 Harry Romero, better known as Harry "Choo Choo" Romero, is an American DJ and record producer. Biography Harry Romero is linked with the label Subliminal with Erick Morillo and Jose Nuñez, with whom he also produced and remixed several tra ...

."About"
Subliminal Records. Retrieved January 16, 2013. Morillo describes Subliminal's sound as "ghetto music", which is branded with European-designed record sleeves, "but with class". Its first single was 1998's "Fun", which featured

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

diva Dajae, and drew positive response via test pressings and buzz across the Atlantic. However, Dajae didn't trust Morillo and 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 R&B and dance singer. Although she has only one ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart entry solely in her name, she has an extensive background in the mus ...

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

Hot Dance Music/Club Play hit. Eventually, it all became The Erick Morillo Show, so 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 formed the finalized core of Subliminal, and are also known as the remix team The Dronez. With Subliminal, Morillo managed to find the balance between "underground" respectability and financial success. The trio won ''

'' magazine's Remixer of the Year award in 1999. Subliminal also brought attention to artists like Eddie Thoneick, Carl Kennedy and DJ DLG.

Club nights

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

Danny Tenaglia Daniel "Danny" Tenaglia (born March 7, 1961) is an American DJ and record producer. He is a Grammy nominee for the best remixed recording (44th Annual Grammy Award). He is also a three time International Dance Music Award winner, 3 time DJ Awa ...

, Darren Emerson,

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 DJ ...

Derrick Carter Derrick Carter (born October 21, 1969) is an American DJ, record producer and musician from Chicago, Illinois, United States. He is regarded as one of the bestTiger 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 ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

(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

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

, and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

."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, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

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

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 is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

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."

Legal issues

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. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which s ...

, 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 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, at least nine women related accounts in which they stated that Morillo raped or sexual assaulted them. Producer Dave Lambert also related accounts of this told to him by other women.

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 dissociative anesthetic used medically for induction and maintenance of anesthesia. It is also used as a recreational drug. It is one of the safest anesthetics, as, in contrast with opiates, ether, and propofol, it suppresses ...

toxicity", with

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for recreational purposes. The desired ...

and

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...

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 a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

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, 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 musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

magazine published by

IPC Media TI Media (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 its ti ...

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 DJs American electronic musicians American house musicians Club DJs Colombian emigrants to the United States Colombian people of African descent DJs from New York City Drug-related deaths in Florida Electronic dance music DJs People from Union City, New Jersey Progressive house musicians