De La Soul founder Trugoy the Dove dies aged 54

De La Soul’s David Jude Jolicoeur, widely known as Trugoy the Dove, has died at the age of 54.

A rapper and producer, Jolicoeur was a founding member of the hugely popular and innovative Long Island hip-hop trio that formed in 1988.

His representative, Tony Ferguson, confirmed reports of Jolicoeur’s death on Sunday. Further information on the cause of death was initially not available.

In recent years, Jolicoeur had said he was battling congestive heart failure. De La Soul was part of the hip-hop tribute at last week’s Grammy Awards, but Trugoy didn’t share the stage with his bandmates.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in the Amityville area of ​​Long Island, Jolicoeur met Vincent Mason (Pasemaster Mase) and Kelvin Mercer (Posdnuos). The three decided to form a rap group, each adopting a distinctive name. Trugoy, Jolicoeur said, was wrong for “yogurt.” Lately he’s been going under the name Dave.

Loading

De La Soul’s debut studio album 3 feet tall and risingproduced by Prince Paul, was released by Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and was lauded for being a more light-hearted and upbeat counterpart to more charged rap offerings like NWA’s Direct from Compton and Public Enemy It takes a nation of millions published just a year earlier.

During the 1990s, De La Soul had three Top 40 albums on the US Billboard 200.

From Johnny Cash and Steely Dan to Hall and Oates, De La Soul sampled the dawn of alternative hip-hop. Rolling Stone Critic Michael Azerrad called it the first “psychedelic hip-hop record”. Some even called them a hippie group, although members disagreed.