Dave “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur who was a founding member of the seminal hip-hop trio De La Soul has died, at the age of 54.
His passing was confirmed by representatives on Sunday after it was first reported by the AllHipHop site. No cause of death was shared but Jolicoeur had been suffering from health issues in recent years including a congestive heart problem that he talked about in the 2017 music video for ‘Royalty Capes’, as per below.
Also known as Plug Two, Jolicoeur joined Maseo and Posdnuos as the trio of De La Soul, whose classic albums in the late ’80s / early ’90s offered a softer perspective in hip-hop while brandishing a pop centre.
Classic rap albums
The trio’s debut album, and now classic record, 3 Feet High and Rising from 1989, the band with producer Prince Paul, flew in the face of gangsta rap that was prevalent at the time, with a positive take on rap that they called the “D.A.I.S.Y. Age”.
The first album featured hits ‘The Magic Number’, ‘Eye Know’, Steely Dan-sampling ‘Me Myself and I’ and Hall and Oates-sampling ‘Say No Go’ and the group would react to the D.A.I.S.Y. sound on album two – De La Soul Is Dead in 1991, exemplified by the plant-pot-smashing cover artwork. It featured singles ‘A Roller Skating Jam Named “Saturdays:”‘ and ‘ Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)’.
The trio’s later albums included highlights Stakes Is High (1996), Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (2000) and The Grind Date (2004).
The band featured on Gorillaz’ music and on many live dates. De La Soul featured on Gorillaz songs like ‘Feel Good Inc’, ‘”Superfast Jellyfish’ and ‘Momentz’.
The band also featured on albums from Handsome Boy Modeling School, Prince Paul, Reflection Eternal, The Black Eyed Peas and Mr Jukes.
Back Catalogue disputes
De La Soul’s back catalogue has never properly existed on streaming due to a dispute between the band and label Warner Records, who Posdnuos said was reluctant to clear the samples for digital distribution.
In 2017, their back catalogue was bought by Tommy Boy Records, but the trio weren’t happy with the 10% cut of the potential revenue they were offered so releases were postponed.
In 2021, when Reservoir Media acquired Tommy Boy for USD$100 million, De La Soul’s music on DSPs was back on the cards, with the first six albums due to arrive on streaming platforms on March 3rd, 2023.
