De La Soul’s founding member David Jolicoeur has reportedly passed away.
According to TMZ, Trugoy The Dove passed away on Sunday while in a hospital in Maryland. The cause of Trugoy’s death is unknown at this time but the outlet reports the reason could be from natural causes as he was battling an undisclosed illness. However, Trugoy has previously spoke about dealing with congestive heart failure over the years.
In De La Soul’s 208 “Royalty Capes” video, Trugoy opened up about his health keeping him from performing.
“I’m ready just to get back to the stage,” he said. “I miss that, I love traveling. I love being around my guys and I want that back,” Trugoy said.
Last week, Trugoy was expected to attend the Grammys and be apart of the hip hop tribute performance but was not present to take the stage with his group mates.
Trugoy was apart of forming the hip hop group in 1987 along with Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer and Vincent Mason, aka DJ Maseo. Around the 90s, De La Soul brought fun into the gangster rap scene releasing three studio albums at the time, two of which securing a gold and platinum certification. The group is best known for their hit songs “Me, Myself and I,” “Eye Know,” “The Magic Number,” “Say No Go,” “Breakadawn,” “Oooh,” “Buddy,” and others.
Trugoy’s death comes just before De La Soul’s music would make its debut on Apple Music, Spotify, and other streaming services. The group had been battling with their former record label, Tommy Boy Records, for years over publishing issues that kept their music off streaming apps. Nevertheless, Reservoir Records bought Tommy Boy’s master recordings in 2021 and made a deal with De La Soul to add their first six albums to the streaming services.
