Common mourns De La Soul’s Trugoy The Dove

The death of Trugoy The Dove has continued to cause goosebumps throughout the hip-hop community. As one of the founding members of the legendary rap trio De La Soul, his artistry has had a significant impact on today’s newer acts as well as many of his peers. Multi-hyphenated talent Common was among his peers inspired by his lyrical skills.

Devastated by the news of Trugoy’s death, Common took to social media to pay a touching tribute to his late friend. The activist opened the tribute by recounting their first meeting, writing, “It was about 88′ when one of my best friends brought a red alert ribbon from NYC. On it was a song called “Plug Tunin” by a group called De La Soul. It was one of the most innovative, fresh and unique songs and sounds I had ever heard. This group then released their album 3 Feet High And Rising and it changed my life. They would become one of my favorite groups of all time and one of the greatest groups of all time. One of the MCs was Trugoy, the pigeon I would come to know as Dave. All I needed to hear was his flow on Afro Connection at the Hi 5 to know he was one of our biggest innovators and stylish with a way with words MCs had never seen or heard.”

Common then went on to talk about their first collaboration with the group: “In 1966, De La gave me one of the greatest gifts of my life when they featured me on their song ‘Bizness’ (which I believe Dave produced). . . You changed my life again! They took me in to live with them on Long Island (love to Maseo and Tina forever).”

The actor then concluded that over the years the couple had become more than collaborators but family: “The way Pos, Maseo and Dave treated me was like a brother. They took me on tour. It was my first trip to London. Just being on a song with De La stamped me at the highest level. And during that process, I forged a real friendship and brotherhood with each member, including Dave, who showed me cool indie movies like ‘Kids’ and took me to get the Jamaican patties on Long Island,” he added, “Me studied Dave and his creativity and how he worked and functioned. I actually bit one of his nicknames and made a song out of it. The sun god. The truth is that he was one of the biggest influences and inspirations in my life. I will miss you brother. You are loved beyond words and I pray for all of your family who are our family. I love you David! God bless your soul.”

Common wasn’t the only musician to take to social media after discovering the news. Pharrell, Quest Love, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Chuck D, Erick Sermon, 9th Wonder, Redman, and more also shared posts honoring Trugoy.