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 team, All Hip-Hop first reported.
His 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.
Jolicoeur 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.
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.
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.
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 having legal problems regarding sample clearances, which prevented them from being able to release their music in digital form and platforms, 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.
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