De La Soul lose 'Trugoy The Dove' aged 54
Monday 13 February 2023
Member of legendary rap group De La Soul, DAVID “TRUGOY THE Dove” Jolicoeur, has died aged 54. The cause of death has not been disclosed.
Trugoy, who had recently been going by the name Dave, and was also known as Plug Two, had been open about his bout with congestive heart failure in recent years.
De La Soul was part of the Grammys’ Hip-Hop tribute performance last week, but Trugoy wasn’t onstage with his group mates.
Recognised as one of the most innovative acts in rap history, De La Soul made their mark in the early Nineties when they represented a light hearted balance to the then-burgeoning gangsta rap scene.
Their early work is characterised by layers of disparate samples melded together, serving as a jazzy, energetic canvas for Trugoy, Posdnuos, and Maseo to unleash their quirky rhymes over canonical songs such as “Breakadawn,” “Stakes Is High,” and “Me, Myself, and I.” Of the latter track, Trugoy told Rolling Stone in 2009 that, “Originally, it was us trying to make sure we’re saying we’re not hippies.
We were just being ourselves. People are now taking the song to be, ‘OK, it’s cool to be me and I don’t have to be hard’ — it wasn’t really about saying that, even though the video came off like that.”
Meeting in high school in the Long Island town of native Amityville, the three all rapped in local groups, but eventually came together to record a demo called “Plug Tunin,” which Mase played for his neighbour, Prince Paul of Stetsasonic. Paul, who Pos once called the “fourth member of De La Soul,” played the track for New York rap figures leading them to signing with Tommy Boy Records in 1989.
