When TMZ first reported on February 12 that De La Soul’s Dave “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur had passed away, there was an outpouring of respect and support throughout social media. And for good reason, the 54-year-old Long Island native was not only one of hip hop’s most innovative rhymers, he had the catalogue and accolades to back it up. However, Plug 2’s value to the hip hop community isn’t based on his achievements on a commercial scale. For many, De La Soul represents the happiest times of their formative years, the boom era where hip hop wasn’t this high-functioning corporate machine, but when the art was still based around thoughts, feelings and the power to dare to be different, the organic way.
Embed from Getty ImagesHailing from the same Long Island outskirts that produced the likes of Chuck D, Rakim and Biz Markie, De La Soul’s contributions to hip hop and the black experience overall was one of normalcy. In an ever-changing rap landscape that had adopted an in-your-face brashness amid Public Enemy, NWA and Rakim’s rise, De La Soul served as the buoyant middle ground between the brazen and squeaky clean rappers of the day. While the group’s success is the product of four like minded creative vanguards (Posdnous, Trugoy, Maseo and Prince Paul) there’s no doubting that Trugoy embodied their very essence. Even as their music matured in between 3 Feet High and Rising and Stakes is High, Dave’s laidback effervescence remained a constant.
Trugoy and De La Soul’s Impact
In an era where black extremism seemed to be the new norm in hip hop, De La Soul brought a fresh point-of-view to life as a black young adult. With their quirky melodies, lighthearted approach, and genre-bending use of samples and rapping styles, the Amityville Memorial High products helped bring the other black experience to prominence. The one where you had fun, nobody got hurt, police was not involved and everything was okay. As a result, their music offered an alternative to contemporaries as their experiences as suburban black youth afforded them a broadened, colorblind view to artistry.
Embed from Getty ImagesConsequently, their idiosyncratic point of view saddled them with a “hippie” gimmick from their record label. After all, black plight had long been one of America’s main soundtracks. For their part, De La Soul refused to portray themselves as victims to anything but wacky outfits. With their D.A.I.S.Y. (Da Inner Sound Ya’ll) mantra, De La Soul epitomizes hip hop’s ethos of “keeping it real.” Along with other members of the Natives Tongues, De LA Soul brought about a musical and social balance to the hip hop landscape. However, they remained true to themselves, refusing to be boxed into the alternative hip hop mold that was building around them.
De La Soul is Dead was a backlash of feeling that way about the industry. About how our art was being compromised. I think people’s point of view of what we were trying to do — it seemed as if they were pointing their hands at us like, these guys are basically here to represent something that we believe that they are, and they’re going to act the way we think they’re supposed to. It was like, no, that’s not who we are. It’s not what we’re doing, and it’s not what we feel. You feel emotional when things happen inside, and we just gotta let it out through music.
-Trugoy the Dove in an interview with Kickstarter Magazine
At the heart of it all was Dave, whose creatively juxtaposing role as Trugoy resonated with many around the world, with De La Soul serving as an inspiration and pushing the budding careers of several acts, including Yasiin Bey and Common. With iconic group’s back catalogue set to hit streaming services on March 3, we can be assured that De La Soul will never be dead.
De La Soul is everything to me. They embraced me! They took me on tour with the@ and changed my life. They featured me on a song and changed my life again. I literally lived with them! We love you Dave. May God bless your soul! pic.twitter.com/y1UBYXYSLv
— COMMON (@common) February 13, 2023
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