Reel 2 Real was an American

hip house Hip house, also known as rap house or house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip hop, that originated in both London, United Kingdom and Chicago, United States in the mid to late 1980s. British group the Beatmaste ...

musical project that had seven top 10 hits on the

Hot Dance Music/Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart in the 1990s.

Biography

The project's core member was producer and DJ

Erick Morillo Erick Morillo (March 26, 1971 – September 1, 2020) was a Colombian-American disc jockey, music producer, and record label owner. Having produced under a number of pseudonyms, including Ministers de la Funk, The Dronez, RAW, Smooth Touch, RBM, D ...

from

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, who spent a portion of his childhood living in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and also in Union City,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The first release as Reel 2 Real was " The New Anthem" which spent a week at No. 1 on the US Dance Chart in 1992. Although it peaked at No. 8 on the dance chart, Reel 2 Real is best known for the song "

I Like to Move It "I Like to Move It" is a song by American solo project Reel 2 Real ( Erick Morillo), featuring ragga vocals by Trinidad and Tobago rapper The Mad Stuntman (Mark Quashie). Released in 1993, as the second single from their debut album, '' Move It! ...

", which featured

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

toaster A toaster is a small electric appliance that uses radiant heat to brown sliced bread into toast. Types Pop-up toaster In pop-up or automatic toasters, a single vertical piece of bread is dropped into a slot on the top of the toaster. ...

Mark Quashie, also known as

The Mad Stuntman Mark Quashie (born 24 January 1967), better known as The Mad Stuntman, is a Trinidadian-born American electronic dance artist and vocalist. Quashie's moniker was inspired by the 1980s action/adventure television program ''The Fall Guy'' which ...

. The song peaked at number 89 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1994. It was successful in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

where it peaked at number 3 on the singles chart, in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 5 and in France and the Netherlands it peaked at number one. The song would later be used in 2005 animated film ''

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

'' and was covered by comedian

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...

but produced by Morillo, making it a hit once again in 2005 with it becoming the

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

. In all, The Mad Stuntman was featured on four of Reel 2 Real's top 10 dance hits. Later singles featured

Barbara Tucker Barbara Tucker (born March 19, 1967), is an American house and soul singer, songwriter and choreographer born in Brooklyn, New York, US. Tucker had six No. 1 hits on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart in the 1990s and into the 2000s, and seve ...

Charlotte Small Charlotte Small (September 1, 1785 - May 4, 1857) was a Métis woman who notably joined her surveyor, map maker, and explorer husband David Thompson on his expeditions. Life Charlotte Small was born on September 1, 1785 to North West Company in ...

and

Proyecto Uno Proyecto Uno (in English: Project One) is a Dominican-American hip hop/Merengue house group which helped popularize a style of music which blends Merengue music, merengue with techno, dancehall, reggae and hip-hop/rap music. The band was founde ...

. The Reel 2 Real alias was abandoned in 1997. Morillo died of an overdose on September 1, 2020, aged 49.

Discography

Studio albums

Remix albums

Singles

References