Erick Morillo (March 26, 1971 – September 1, 2020) was an American house DJ, producer, and record label owner. He produced under a number of pseudonyms, 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, in particular for the label Strictly Rhythm, and the 1993 hit "I Like to Move It", which he produced under the pseudonym Reel 2 Real, and which was featured in commercials, movies, and ringtones. His label Subliminal Records produced the number-one Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play hit "Fun" by Da Mob, and won the Muzik magazine "Remixer of the Year" award in 1999. Subliminal also brought attention to artists like Eddie Thoneick, Carl Kennedy, and DJ DLG. 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.
Morillo 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.
Erick Morillo was born in 1971 in New York. He spent most of his pre-teen years in Cartagena, Colombia, where he lived with his family, and grew accustomed to salsa and merengue music. He moved back to the United States at age 11, living with his mother, Elisa, and sister, Sheila, in an apartment at 1406 Bergenline Avenue in Union City, New Jersey. Influenced by other genres such as reggae, 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 and Michael's School, a private Catholic school, graduating in 1985. He graduated from Emerson High School in Union City in 1989.
"Muevelo" and "I Like to Move It"
Morillo took a studio engineering course at the New York City'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, Morillo met Latin reggae star El General, whom he befriended. The two collaborated in 1991 on the single, "Muevelo", a mixture of reggae, house music, 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, 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 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 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. 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 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 was hired to re-record the vocals. Brown's collaboration with Subliminal is known as "Da Mob", and their version of "Fun" became a number one Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 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 Muzik magazine's Remixer of the Year award in 1999.
In late 1999, Morillo completed a U.S. tour. His club night "Subliminal Night" in New York City featured Danny Tenaglia, Darren Emerson, Bob Sinclar, 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 (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, Malta, Amsterdam, London, Madrid, Belfast, and Russia. According to Morillo, his most memorable job was on Ibiza's White Isle after the September 11 attacks: "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."