David “Trugoy The Dove” Jolicoeur, a groundbreaking member of the hip-hop trio De La Soul, has died. He was 54.
His passing was confirmed by his management team, All Hip-Hop first reported.
Jolicoeur’s official cause of death has not been announced — but the rap pioneer had been open about his struggles with congestive heart failure over the past few years.
The veteran performer was with the group since it launched in Amityville, Long Island, circa 1988. The group was formed with his two friends from high school, fellow rappers Posdnuos and Maseo.
De La Soul recorded their first demo called “Plug Tunin,” which caught the attention of record producer Prince Paul, who ended up recording their first three albums, according to Okay Player.
The group’s first breakthrough album was titled “3 Feet High and Rising,” and debuted in 1989. They had a strong influence on their genre throughout the 1990s and beyond.
Some of their other hits included iconic tracks such as “Breakadawn,” “Stakes Is High,” and “Me, Myself, and I.” Their works appeared on MTV, among others.
In 2006, the group won their first Grammy Award for “Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals,” for their collaboration with Gorillaz, Jamie Hewlett, and Damon Albarn for their song, “Feel Good Inc.”
Their music has repeatedly been cited as inspiration for artists like Tyler, The Creator, Pharrell, and Jurassic 5, among others.
The most recent album that De La Soul put out was in 2016, called “And the Anonymous Nobody…” It received praise, with a review from SPIN writing, “It’s an LP that reaffirms De La Soul as standard-bearers for Gen-X rap artistry.”
However, their success did not come without struggles — the group found themselves experienced legal problems regarding sample clearances, which they often used in their songs. This prevented them from being able to release their music in digital form and platforms, as even their first album contained other recordings from French language lessons and old TV shows, according to the New York Times.
Earlier this year, they were able to clear those samples, and announced that they would be bringing their hits from 1989-2001 to streaming platforms, according to Pitchfork.
Following the news of Trugoy’s death, many rap community pioneers paid homage. Erick Sermon called De La Soul “one of the best rap groups” in rap history in an Instagram homage to Trugoy.
Public Enemy legend Chuck D. took to Twitter to commemorate Jolicoeur’s death, sharing a video of them on the platform. He was featured on a 2014 song with the group, called “The People.”
“#RestInBeats my Bro #Dave#Trugoy#DeLaSoul forever,” he wrote.
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