Erick Morillo is an American DJ and record producer of Colombian descent who is also a music label proprietor.
Morillo is best known for his international work in house music, specifically for the label Strictly Rhythm, as well as the 1993 hit “I Want to Shift It”, which he produced under the pseudonym Reel 2 Genuine, and which was showcased in advertisements, motion pictures and ringtones. His label Subliminal Records has produced the # 1 Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Perform success “Fun” by Da Mob, and claimed the Muzik magazine “Remixer of the Year” award in 1999.
Nevertheless, Erick Morillo entered this world back in 1972 in the City of New York. However, he spent most of his own pre-teen years in Cartagena, Colombia with his family and grew accustomed to salsa and merengue music.
However, Erick eventually moved back to the United States at age 11, residing with his mom, Elisa, and sister, Sheila, within an flat at 1406 Bergenline Avenue in Union City, New Jersey. Influenced by other genres including reggae, and rap, it was also at age 11 young Erick Morillo started DJing weddings for friends and family.
A few years later, Morillo took a studio engineering course let in the New York State’s Heart for your Media Arts, and started DJing at local nightclubs, in locations such as the Love Sexy music lounge on Hudson Street in Hoboken.
While functioning at a nightclub in nearby Weehawken, Morillo satisfied Latin reggae star El Basic, with whom Morillo became buddies. The 2 collaborated in 1991 to the single, “Muevelo”, a blend of reggae, home songs, along with a sample of T99’s techno single “Anasthasia” that became a surprise hit, and went platinum.
As his remixes became familiar in Latin nightclubs, Morillo branched out through his camaraderie with New York house expert “Little” Louie Vega, whom he satisfied through then-unfamiliar singer Marc Anthony, with whom Vega had worked on the seminal 1992 house anthem, “Trip to the Rhythm”.
Morillo’s next big song came in 1993, when New York’s highest house label at the time, Strictly Rhythm, launched his “The Brand new Anthem”/”Funky Buddha” 12. The tune did well in the graphs and in nightclubs, garnering attention for Morillo.
After that year, Strictly Rhythm introduced the Reel 2 Real’s second single. “I Prefer to Move It”. The song became a basic international dance hit for both Reel 2 Real and Strictly Rhythm. This track actually made Morillo a millionaire and thrust him into a globetrotting life that contained weekly trips to Europe to tape MTV Europe in between stateside promotions.
In response to the song’s achievement, Morillo recorded the entire-length album Move It!, that launched in 1994, and spawned several singles that did particularly well in England. It was followed using a 1996 album from which another several singles were launched, such as “Mueve la Cadera” (“Transfer Your Body”).
Despite being believed to possess earned over $2 million from Reel 2 Real, Morillo worried that his fiscal success may have hurt both his innovative drive along with his road credibility. Attempting to produce decent house songs, he created “Jazz It Up”, founding it underneath the label of the Erick Morillo Task, as a way to ensure road trustworthiness.
Morillo thought a third album for Reel to Real, but his connection with the Mad Stuntman soured, which de-railed the endeavor. He abandoned the Reel 2 Real alias in 1996, and concentrated on DJing, becoming a favorite in Ibiza, Europe and Australia.
Concluding his connection with Strictly Rhythm, Morillo took the recommendations of Strictly Rhythm proprietor Mark Finkelstein, whom Morillo calls “a good individual and a company mentor”, and chose to distance himself from R2R’s pop earlier by launching the Double Platinum management business 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, that’s based in Weehawken.
Morillo describes Subliminal’s sound as “ghetto songs” that will be branded with European-developed record sleeves, “but with category”. Its first single was 1998’s “Fun”, which highlighted Chicago diva Dajae’s, and attracted positive reply via test pressings and buzz across the Atlantic. Nevertheless, Dajae refused to sign the agreement with Subliminal, and vocalist Jocelyn Brown was brought in to re-record the vocals. Brown’s collaboration with Subliminal is called “Da Mob”, as well as their variant of “Fun” became a # 1 Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Perform hit.
Shortly after, nevertheless, DJ Sneak left the group for Toronto to start out his own management business, and Junior Sanchez united with Roger S. to start one among own. The rest of the trio of Morillo, Romero and Nunez formed the finalized core of Subliminal, and therefore are also known as the remix group The Dronez. With Subliminal, Morillo were able to get the equilibrium between “under-ground” reputability and fiscal success. The trio won Muzik magazine’s Remixer of the Year award in 1999. Subliminal also brought focus to artists like Eddie Thoneick, Carl Kennedy and DJ DLG.
In late 1999, Morillo finished a U.S. tour and his club night, dubbed Subliminal Night, is credited with single handedly resuscitating New York City’s ailing nightclub scene, a effort he realized by signing up Danny Tenaglia, Darren Emerson, Bob Sinclar, Derrick Carter, Tiger Tim Stevens, Mark Farina and Tony Humphries in guest areas.
Morillo has hosted many other club nights throughout the world, like the yearly Crobar party in Miami (EXTREMELY), and his renowned Subliminal Sessions celebrations at Pacha in Ibiza, that has been named “Greatest International Nightclub” of 2002 and “Best Ibiza Party” of 2001 by Muzik journal. Ibiza is additionally where Morillo was topped “Best International DJ” in 2002 and “Best House DJ” in 1999 and 2001 at the Pacha Ibiza awards. He’s been understood to play around 30 jobs per month in places including Russia, Belfast, Madrid, London, Amsterdam, Malta and Greece.
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 dance floor hit “Dance I Said”.
On October 12, 2012, Morillo’s former home town of Union City, NJ honored him in a ceremony in which the portion of Bergenline Avenue between 14th and 15th Road, 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 remarking, “It is important to understand those in the community who give to our hometown,” Union City Mayor Brian Stack said. “We can all be proud to call Erick a part of our community.
Unfortunately, Morillo attracted some negative attention in June of 2013 when he neglected to appear at a June 6th show in Long Island, and then on June 12th when he had to be escorted off stage forty-five minutes into a set, due to “inconsistent behavior.” According to reports, Morillo seemed to be “out of it” when he started his set, and his condition worsened as time passed. At one point, he disappeared from view, leaving a single loop playing over and over again. Morillo after said by way of his Twitter page, “The time has come to take a rest and refocus my focus on my well-being and health.”
