Erick Morillo (born 1971) is a Colombian-American DJ, music producer and record label owner. Having 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 is 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.
Early life and career
Morillo was raised in Dominican Republic and Union City, New Jersey, where 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.[1] His childhood musical influences include exposure to Latin rhythms, reggae, and hip hop.
Morillo began his DJ career at age eleven, DJing on the local party circuit, and paying his dues by “spinning” at weddings for family and friends.[2] After seeing television commercial ad for New York City’s Center for the Media Arts, Morillo enrolled at the school to learn audio engineering. While working at a club in nearby Weehawken, Morillo met Latin reggae star El General, with whom Morillo became friends. The two collaborated in 1992 on the single, “Muevelo”, a mixture of reggae, house music, and a sample of T99’s techno single “Anesthasia”. The single went platinum, and Morillo’s records and remixes became familiar staples of Latin club music.
Morillo decided to branch out musically, and became friends with a then-unknown singer-songwriter Marc Anthony, who introduced Morillo to his partner on the 1992 house anthem “Ride On The Rhythm”, Little Louie Vega, who advised Morillo to focus on vocals.
Reel to Real and “I Like to Move It”
Morillo created a new act, Reel 2 Real, which was signed by the label Strictly Rhythm. Morillo’s first release for Strictly Rhythm was “The New Anthem”, which fared well in the music charts and in clubs, and garnered Morillo considerable attention.
Morillo would surpass this success with the 1993 hit “I Like to Move It”, latin house with ragga vocals by native Trinidad and Tobago rapper Mark Quashie (also known as “The Mad Stuntman”). “I Like to Move It” became an international smash, enjoying mainstream radio airplay, reaching #89 on the Hot 100, #5 on the UK Singles Chart, and made Morillo a millionaire. Both I Like To Move It and House Of Love (a song he released as part of Smooth Touch) hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, and Morillo became a world traveler, often traveling between Europe, where he would tape for MTV Europe, and The United States, where he would return for promotional work.
In 1994, “I Like to Move It” was used in a series of promotional television advertisements for the Australian National Basketball League. It was a montage of various players slam dunking with the song played over the top of it, to highlight the game's fast pace. In the late 1990s, the song was used in adverts for the confectionery Chewits, with the lyrics changed from "I like to move it" to "I like to chew it". The song would later be used in DreamWorks' 2005 animated film Madagascar, making it a hit once again. The song was covered by the Crazy Frog that same year, and released both as a ringtone (with an accompanying ad) and on the album Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits.
Reel 2 Real's other top 10 dance hits, which featured vocals by The Mad Stuntman, Barbara Tucker, Charlotte Small and Proyecto Uno. Estimates are that Morillo made over $2 million from Reel 2 Real’s two albums.
From Reel to Real to Subliminal
Fearing that his financial success from Real 2 Real may have hurt both his creative drive and his street credibility. Morillo abandoned the Reel 2 Real alias in 1996, after which he spent a few years establishing himself as an underground DJ, of which he is one of the top-five highest-paid in the world.
His desire to produce respectable house music, and to distance himself from Reel to Real’s pop music past resulted in the successful “Jazz It Up” which he produced under the “The Erick Morillo Project”. 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.
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 the launch the Double Platinum management company in 1997 with fellow DJs and producers Jose Nunez, Harry Choo Choo Romero, Carlos Sosa (aka “DJ Sneak”), and Junior Sanchez, and his own imprint, Subliminal Records. Its first single was 1998’s “Fun” which featured Chicago diva Dajae’s, which drew positive response via test pressings and buzz across the Atlantic. Dajae refused to sign the contract with Subliminal, and vocalist Jocelyn Brown was brought in to re-record the vocals. Brown’s collaboration with Subliminal is known as “Da Mob”, and their version of “Fun” became a #1 Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play hit. Soon after, however, DJ Sneak left the group for Toronto to start his own management company, and Junior Sanchez united with Roger S. to start one of their own. 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 the Subliminal label, which is based in Weehawken, New Jersey, Morillo managed to find the balance between "underground" respectability and financial success. The trio won the Muzik Magazine Remixer of the Year award in 1999.[3] 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. 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.
Club nights
In the fall of 1999, Morillo completed a U. S. tour and his club night, dubbed “Subliminal night”, is credited with single-handedly resuscitating New York City’s ailing club scene[citation needed], a feat he accomplished by signing up 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 weekly “Sessions” parties in New York, 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 gigs 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."
In addition to his MTV UK appearances, Morillo has also hosted MTV Ibiza for two years, and presented the UK’s Dancestar Awards and starred in a seven-part Channel 4 series documenting his world travels as a party DJ.
Legal troubles
While touring in December 2008, he was arrested for possession of cocaine in Glasgow Airport. He pleaded not guilty in court on December 22. Morillo was released on bail and ordered to return to Scotland for trial in March 2009.[4]
Discography
Singles e EP
- 1992 The New Anthem (Funky Budda) (Reel 2 Real)
- 1992 Muevelo (Reel 2 Real)
- 1992 Te Ves Buena (Reel 2 Real)
- 1993 I Like To Move It (Reel 2 Real)
- 1993 Latin Flavor (R.B.M.)
- 1993 Gettin' Me Hot (Platinum Crew)
- 1993 Carnival '93 (Club Ultimate)
- 1993 The Boy (R.B.M)
- 1993 Rhythmz (Deep Soul)
- 1993 Unbe (R.A.W.)
- 1993 House Of Love In My House (Smooth Touch)
- 1993 Go On Move (Reel 2 Real)
- 1995 Carnival '95 (Club Ultimate)
- 1995 Reach (Lil Mo' Yin Yang)
- 1995 Conway (Reel 2 Real)
- 1996 Dime Si Son Latinos (Reel 2 Real feat. Proyecto Uno)
- 1996 Mueve La Cadera (Reel 2 Real feat. Proyecto Uno)
- 1996 Jazz It Up (Reel 2 Real)
- 1996 Are You Ready For Some More (Reel 2 Real)
- 1997 Fun (Da Mob feat. Jocelyn Brown)
- 1997 Partay Feeling (B-Crew)
- 1997 Tripping (Smooth Touch)
- 1998 It's All Good (Da Mob feat. Jocelyn Brown)
- 1998 Distortion (Pianoheadz)
- 1999 Believe (Ministers De-La-Funk feat. Jocelyn Brown)
- 2002 Come Make Me Over
- 2003 Dancin' (Erick Morillo feat. Harry "Choo Choo" Romero & Jose Nunez)
- 2004 Refresher (Time Of Your Life)
- 2004 My World (Erick Morillo feat. P. Diddy)
- 2005 Break Down The Doors (Erick Morillo feat. Audio Bullys)
- 2005 What Do You Want (Erick Morillo feat. Terra Deva)
- 2005 Waiting In The Darkness (Erick Morillo feat. Leslie Carter)
- 2006 Jazz In Your Face
- 2006 Call Me (The Dronez feat. Shawnee Taylor)
- 2006 Tonite (MNM feat. Shawnee Taylor)
- 2006 Dance I Said (Erick Morillo feat. P. Diddy)
- 2007 Life Goes On (Richard Grey vs. Erick Morillo feat. Jose Nunez & Shawnee Taylor)
- 2008 Make A Move Harry "Choo Choo" Romero feat. Erick Morillo & P. Diddy)
- 2008 Where Are You Now? (Dj Dlg feat. Erick Morillo)
Remixes
- 1993 Yolanda - Reality
- 1993 Whoomp There It Is - Tag Team
- 1995 One Moment In Time - Stex
- 1995 What I Need - Crystal Waters
- 1996 Keep It Up - Hipgrinders
- 1997 Dreams - Smokin' Beats
- 1997 Fly Life - Basement Jaxx
- 1998 She Wants You - Billie
- 1998 Found A Cure - Ultra Naté
- 1998 In My Life - Josè Nuñez
- 1998 Good Love - Richard F.
- 1998 Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Jocelyn Brown
- 1999 Don't Call Me Baby - Madison Avenue
- 1999 Bailamos - Enrique Iglesias
- 1999 Not Over You Yet - Diana Ross
- 1999 Red Alert - Basement Jaxx
- 1999 Big Love - Pete Heller
- 1999 Hold On - Josè Nuñez
- 2000 Welcome To The Jungle - Thick Dick
- 2000 My Only Love - Bob Sinclar
- 2000 Scream & Shout - The Committee
- 2000 I Feel For You - Bob Sinclar
- 2000 Brasil Over Zurich - Tanga Chick
- 2000 Sunday Shouting - Johnny Corporate
- 2000 I'm Your Baby Tonight - Whitney Houston
- 2001 Sexual Revolution - Macy Gray
- 2001 I'm So Crazy - Par-T-one
- 2001 Keep On Touchin' Me - Jaimy & Kenny D.
- 2001 Keep The Love - Money Chocolate
- 2001 Austin's Groove - Kid Crème
- 2001 You & Me - LL Cool J
- 2001 Close to My Heart (Ano Natsu no Mama de) - Misia
- 2001 Last Dance - Superfunk
- 2002 Air Race - Josè Nuñez
- 2002 Thrill Me - Junior Jack
- 2002 Lady - Modjo
- 2003 Born Too Slow - Crystal Method
- 2004 What Happened - Harry "Choo Choo" Romero
- 2005 Father - Anthony Rother
References
- Ressler, Darren; “Erick Morillo Shakes Up New York”; Mixer magazine; April 2000.
See also
External links
