Hex Hector

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Hex Hector (born April 15, 1965), is an American dance remixer. He won a Grammy in 2001 for "Best Remixer".^[1]

Biography

Hector was born in in Manhattan, New York, of a Puerto Rican mother and Cuban father,^[2][3] and was raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan. He started his career as disc jockey (DJ) at the age of fourteen, with a hip-hop group he formed called Little Man Crew.

He started to work on remixes with a friend, Robert Clivillés, who helped Hector break into the industry by working on his first remix for a Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam song called "Something ’Bout Love". One of his most notable works as a remixer occurred in early 1996, when he caught the attention of famous Arista/BMG Records representative Hosh Gureli, who asked Hector to remix Toni Braxton's hit ballad "Un-Break My Heart", along with dance producers Soul Solution.

The original remix of "Un-Break My Heart" was made by Hector, and Soul Solution was rejected. The label claimed it was too dark and the public would not embrace it. However, Hector liked the finished product and left it the way it was, deciding later not to get involved. After several changes by Soul Solution,^{[contradiction]} Arista accepted the remix and it became one of the biggest dance hits in the United States of the year, and one of the first to transform a ballad into an up-tempo house music song.

Following the success of that remix, Hector became a sought-after remixer, ranking alongside Junior Vasquez, Thunderpuss, Victor Calderone, Johnny Vicious, Jonathan Peters, Ralphi Rosario, Razor N' Guido, and Peter Rauhofer for official label remix requests. He later created his own label called Ground Control Productions, and teamed up with talented programmers and keyboardists Dezrok and Mac Quayle, with whom he worked on some of his most successful releases.

Notable work

Hector has been able to successfully transform both songs and artists, utilizing not only his style, but also creative beats and rhythms to create a memorable sound. For example, he notably transformed the sound of Canadian singer Deborah Cox stands out as a shining example of his creativity. Cox, who was signed to Arista, commenced her long collaboration with Hector when he remixed several singles from her second album, One Wish. Hector's work on her singles "It's Over Now" and "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" successfully helped Cox cross over from R&B music, and made her a major name in the dance-music genre.

Hector's remix of Jennifer Lopez's third hit single, "Waiting for Tonight", from her debut album On the 6, also became such a success that it earned Lopez a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2000.

Former Spice Girl Melanie C achieved her second solo number-one single on the UK pop chart in 2000 because of Hector's radio remix of the fourth single, "I Turn To You", from her debut solo album Northern Star. The remix also charted at number-one on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart later that same year, and earned him the Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year.

Discography

Original productions

Remixography

References

1. ^ interview: DJ Hex Hector from www.chicagopride.com, November 1, 2003.
2. ^ Interview with Hex Hector from www.djtimes.com, June 2001.
3. ^ Hex Hector from social.zune.net

External links

• Official Web Site
• Hex Hector at the Internet Movie Database