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Erick Morillo, ‘I Like To Move It’ DJ, Found Dead At 49

By Michael Bamidele

02 September 2020   |   11:58 am

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Erick Morillo, the DJ known for the nineties hit song "I Like To Move It", was found dead Tuesday in Miami Beach. He was 49 years old. According to the police, the body of the international DJ was found at a property in Miami. Officer Ernesto Rodriguez said: “We received a 911 call this morning…

Erick Morillo | Image: Instagram

Erick Morillo, the DJ known for the nineties hit song “I Like To Move It”, was found dead Tuesday in Miami Beach. He was 49 years old.

According to the police, the body of the international DJ was found at a property in Miami. Officer Ernesto Rodriguez said: “We received a 911 call this morning at 10.42 am to 5660 La Gorce Drive. Detectives are currently on scene and in the preliminary stages of the investigation.”

Morillo died just days before he was due in court for a sexual battery charge. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the cause of death, police said.

Born in 1971 in New York and raised between Colombia and New Jersey, Morillo became known under the pseudonym Reel 2 Real and dropped the hit “I Like to Move It” in 1993.

The song was a collaboration with the Trinidadian singer The Mad Stuntman — born Mark Quashie — and became an iconic Eurodance song with ragga vocals, a subgenre of dancehall and reggae.

A massive hit particularly across Europe, the song had a resurgence in 2005 when it was featured in the animated film “Madagascar” featuring Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Following the dissolution of Reel 2 Real, Morillo had a successful DJ career under a number of pseudonyms and was known particularly for his contributions to the house genre.

He was expected in court Friday, accused of making unwanted sexual advances towards a woman when they were having drinks.

The woman said she woke up naked and Morillo, also nude, was next to the bed. The late DJ originally denied the accusations but turned himself in after the results of a rape kit matched his DNA.

Morillo 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