Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images
David “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur, one-third of legendary rap triumvirate De La Soul, has died, Rolling Stone has confirmed. The news was first reported by AllHipHop. He was 54. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Trugoy, who recently went by the name Dave and was also known as Plug Two, had been open about his battle with congestive heart failure for the past several years. In De La Soul’s 208 Royalty Capes video, Trugoy spoke candidly about how failing health kept him from performing.
“I’m ready to just go back on stage,” he said. “I miss that. I love travel. I love being with my boys and I want that back.” De La Soul was part of the Grammys’ hip-hop tribute performance last week, but Trugoy didn’t stand by his groupmates on stage.
Known as one of the most innovative acts in rap history, De La Soul made a name for themselves in the early ’90s as a fun diversion from the then burgeoning gangsta rap scene.
Characterized by layers of disparate samples fused together, their early work serves as a jazzy, energetic canvas for Trugoy, Posdnuos and Maseo to deliver their whimsical rhymes over canonical songs like “Breakadawn,” “Stakes Is High,” and “Me.” unleash , me and me.” Of the latter track, Trugoy told Rolling Stone in 2009, “Originally we wanted to make sure we were saying we weren’t hippies. We were just being ourselves. People are taking the song as ‘OK ‘It’s cool to be me and I don’t have to be harsh’ – it wasn’t really about saying that, even though the video came across that way.”
The trio met in high school in the Long Island town of Amityville. The three all rapped in local groups but eventually got together to record a demo called “Plug Tunin” which Mase played for his neighbor Prince Paul from Stetsasonic. Paul, whom Pos once dubbed the “fourth member of De La Soul,” performed the track for New York rappers, and it created a flurry that led to their signing to Tommy Boy Records in 1989.
Editors Favorites
In 2014, De La Soul released The People, starring Chuck D. At the time, Trugoy told Rolling Stone, “The lyrics are commentaries on our struggles and successes, our weaknesses and strengths … the experiences, trials and tribulations that we have faced as people, Race and Individuals” and that “we hope [the] Song will lend itself to something positive in these trying times.”
Following the news of Trugoy’s death, many in the music community paid homage. Erick Sermon called De La Soul “one of the best rap groups” in rap history in an Instagram tribute to Trugoy.
“It just shook me. RIP Trugoy the Pigeon, Plug Two”, A Trak wrote. “It’s hard to tell how much De La means to me. The artistry, the creativity, the humor, the wisdom and just plain stupidity. Buhloone Mindstate shaped me. All albums, but this one in particular. Crap.”
Trending
Earlier this year, De La Soul announced that the first six albums in their catalog would return to streaming services on March 3rd. The group had fought a two-year battle with Tommy Boy Records in the late 2010s but got their masters back in August 2021. Next month they will be 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate, Stakes Is High, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump and AOI: Bionix re-release for streaming services.