Erik Morillo is a Columbian- American music producer, D.J, recording artist and a record producer too. With his specialization in house music, he has contributed a lot in this genre and especially to the artists that are coming up in this music. Known by a lot of nicknames like Smooth Touch, RBM, The Dronez, Lil Mo Ying Yang etc. he is a popular figure in the American music industry with his huge marketing, branding and success of signing young talents.
With his recording company which is Subliminal Records making great money and reputation, many aspiring artists like Carl Kennedy and Eddie Thoneick have come up through this recording company. Personally, Morillo has been awarded the “Best House DJ” three times in his career; 1998, 2001 and 2003. Likewise, he has achieved the title of “Best International DJ” in 2002, 2006 and 2009, although he had been nominated for 15 different awards. With a lot of hard work and effort that he has put in himself and his company, the result seems to be pretty satisfying from his point of view.
Erik Morillo was born on the May of 1971 in New York City of United States of America, to Columbian born parents Armando and Elisa Morillo. He and his family later moved back to Columbia where his family settled in Cartagena. Mixing up with the locals, he learned to speak Spanish and also some Latino cultures, including Salsa. At the age of 11, he moved back to United States where he, his mother and older sister lived together in New Jersey. Accustomed to cultural differences, Erik also took interest in the variation of music and living in New Jersey was something that made him open to different forms. With hip hop, reggae and rap music at rise in that period of time, Erik was also used to these forms of music and it wasn’t long before he started to mix songs on home or other occasions. He preferred to be called as a D.J and even in school he performed on several occasions. He graduated from Emerson High School in 1989, when he was 19 years of age. He belongs to a family of Italian and Columbian ethnicity although he himself is an American by nationality.
After graduation, Morillo took a course at the Center for the Media Arts, which was under New York University. He started to work as a D.J in the local clubs of New York and worked towards modifying the music that he was already accustomed to. With a certain change in his tempo and rhythm, he introduced house music and became a pioneer to develop a new style of music. His popularity was growing and he started to work for longer hours at night, playing what he sat composing in the day. With a good-looking face, Latin charms good height and athletic body, he also was popular amongst the women in night clubs. However, there are not many shirtless pictures of his to be found in the media.
There was a big rumor spread that accused Morillo to be sexually gay. Not that he was found having affairs with other men but because there was no information regarding his love life. When this rumor spread at large, Erik himself had to come out and announce that he was not a gay. Also, that he had a girlfriend (now wife) named Yasmin Sait-Armstrong Morillo, and to whom he got married in 2012. Although the couple doesn’t have any children till now, there is no chance that they will separate or get divorced anytime soon. You can find more information about Erik in sites like Wikipedia, and also his latest net worth survey revealed a value of $8 million US dollars.