(L to R) Kelvin Mercer “Posdnuos”, Vincent Mason "Maseo" and David Jude Jolicoeur “Dave” of De La Soul on Sept. 13, 2015 in Chicago. (Photo by Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP)
Hip-hop has lost one of its innovators. David “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur, one-third of the groundbreaking trio De La Soul, died on Feb. 12. He was 54. The cause of death was not disclosed, but he had been open about his battle with congestive heart failure.
Trugoy, who hailed from Long Island, New York, was also known as Plug Two. De La Soul participated Grammys’ Hip-Hop tribute performance on Feb. 5, but Trugoy wasn’t onstage with his group mates, Posdnuos, and Maseo.
Trugoy, who had to wear a LifeVest defibrillator machine during his bout with congestive heart failure, first revealed his health condition in November 2017 in a special scene from the video clip for “Royalty Capes”, a track from De La Soul’s 2016 album, “And the Anonymous Nobody….”
At the beginning of the video, Trugoy spoke about how his heart problems didn’t allow him to perform and tour with the group consistently.
“[The LifeVest defibrillator] will shock me, and hopefully bring me back from the matrix. I’m ready just to get back to the stage. I miss it. I love traveling; I love being around my guys. And I want that back,” he said in the video.
The trio, who met in high school, signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989.
De La Soul made their mark in the early 1990s, offering a heady and bohemian alternative to the then-growing gangsta rap genre.
Among their hits were “Breakadawn,” “Stakes Is High,” and “Me, Myself, and I.”
Of “Me, Myself, and I,” 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.”
The group continued to stay on the scene. In 2014, De La Soul released “The People” with Chuck D.
Earlier this year, De La Soul announced that the first six albums in their catalog return to streaming services on March 3, Rolling Stone reported. Next month, they’ll be re-releasing the albums “3 Feet High and Rising,” “De La Soul Is Dead,” “Buhloone Mindstate,” “Stakes Is High,” “Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump,” and “AOI: Bionix” to streaming services.
During the late 2010s, the group had been in a two-year battle with Tommy Boy Records, but were able to gain control of their masters in Aug. 2021.
(L to R) Kelvin Mercer “Posdnuos”, Vincent Mason “Maseo” and David Jude Jolicoeur “Dave” of De La Soul seen at Riot Fest & Carnival in Douglas Park on Sept. 13, 2015 in Chicago. (Photo by Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP)
