Content warning: This article is about sexual assault.
At the beginning of September, Erick Morillo was found dead in his Miami beach home – three days before he was set to appear in court for a sexual battery case. The days that followed would see prominent women in electronic music like Ida Engberg and DJ Empress share their experiences involving the “I Like To Move It” producer. Now, at least nine more accusers have followed suit.
A total of ten allegations (including that of DJ Empress) have been gathered and published by Mixmag. Six of the accounts were contributed on the condition of anonymity, but the rest of the accusers allowed their names to be disclosed.
Among the latter was Dave Lambert, who signed “I Like To Move it” to Positiva/EMI in 1993. He recounted security in the building where EMI’s offices were situated complaining of Morillo’s persistence in approaching women when he would visit. Lambert also said that an alleged victim of Morillo’s told him that the DJ had raped her.
Music journalist Anna Chapman and former television crew member Litsa Aris shared similar accounts of being groped by Morillo before narrowly escaping full-on rape. The remaining testimonies ranged from drugging and rape to other kinds of unruly outbursts.
Morillo’s case followed the public disgrace of DJs like Bassnectar, Space Jesus and Billy Kenny as the #MeToo movement underwent a 2020 resurgence in the electronic music community. The conversation around Morillo’s passing has recently drawn significant attention to sexual harassment and assault allegations involving first-wave Detroit techno figurehead Derrick May.
Selector encourages anyone with information regarding incidents of sexual misconduct in the electronic music industry to email info@Selector.news with guaranteed confidentiality.
