On Sunday, Feb. 12 news broke that hip-hop lost another legend. David Jolicoeur — who rapped as Trugoy the Dove, Plug Two, Dove, and recently, Dave, as part of the hip-hop trio De La Soul — passed away at age 54.
Born on Sept. 21, 1968, in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island in Amityville, New York, Jolicoeur was a founding member of the groundbreaking East Coast group. Renowned for dropping frank and satirical statements covering heavy topics on upbeat, dialogue-driven, sample-heavy tracks, De La Soul were innovative outliers on a late '80s and early '90s hip-hop scene flourishing with tough-tongued gangster rap.
Last month Jolicoeur told Billboard, "I think the element of that time of what was taking place in music, hip-hop, and our culture,I think [De La Soul] welcomed that and opened up minds and spirits to see and try new different things."
Distinctly true to themselves, an up-tempo, bright and playful form reverberated through their sound and style. This is apparent from their very beginnings in everything from the funky floral album art that covers their debut album Three Feet High and Rising, to the music video for "Me, Myself, and I" where the group is seen side-eyed by fellow classmates in gold chains and dark shades. An accompanying bonus track titled "Ain’t Hip To Be Labeled A Hippie"on the single features a sample from "Hard Times" by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band and a lyrical breakdown of an acronym for D.A.I.S.Y. which rejects any notions of their assumed status as hippies.
Nominated for six GRAMMY Awards through their career, De La Soul became GRAMMY-winners in 2006 for best pop collaboration with the Gorillaz for "Feel Good Inc." Their indelible mark on hip-hop was most recently celebrated at the 2023 GRAMMYs where Jolicoeur’s fellow group-mates Vincent Mason a.k.a Maseo and Kelvin Mercer a.k.a Plug One and Posdnuos appeared without him as part of the Recording Academy’s massive tribute to celebrate 50 years of hip-hop.
De La Soul is part of the soul of hip-hop, pushing storytelling, dialogue and music sampling ahead in the genre (the latter was ultimately responsible for the group’s difficulty reaching mainstream audiences on digital streaming platforms). Recently the group reportedly cleared samples after a protracted two-year battle over sample rights and was gearing up to re-release a body of their work to streaming services on March 3 including 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate, Stakes Is High, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, and AOI: Bionix.
Jolicouer will be deeply missed by his fans, the music communities he inspired and his fellow artists, including Pharell who shared his sentiments on Twitter, stating, "Trugoy Dave from De La Soul has gone up to be with the day of the stars with the Master. Sending love, light and positive vibrations to his family, The Soul and everyone whose lives have been touched by his existence. Oodles and Oodles and Oodles of O’s." Rapper and producer Erik Sermon also posted a heartfelt statement in a post on Instagram that starts simply, "This one hurts."
Enjoy a sampling of just a few of De la Soul’s essential tracks, below.
"Me, Myself and I" (1989)
Released as a single from the group’s debut album 3 Feet High and Rising, the track begins with Jolicouer asking “mirror, mirror on the Tell me, mirror, what is wrong? Can it be my de la clothes? Or is it just my de la song?” It was the group’s only track to make it to number one on Billboard’s U.S. R&B charts. An undeniable bopper, it ranked number 46 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop and still instantly gets crowds going today.
The song is also great evidence of their smatter-sampling capabilities, with samples taken from five other artists: "(Not Just) Knee Deep" by Funkadelic (1979); "Rapper Dapper Snapper" by Edwin Birdsong (1980); "Funky Worm" by the Ohio Players (1973); "The Original Human Beatbox" by Doug E. Fresh (1985) and "Gonna Make You Mine" by Loose Ends (1986).
"Breakadawn" (1993)
A soulful groove that serves as a soundtrack for sweltering summers in New York City, "Breakadawn" was released in 1993 as a single from De la Soul’s third album, Buhloone Mindstate. It samples "Quiet Storm" by Smokey Robinson, the intro to Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" from his Off the Wall album. The song also samples "Sang and Dance" by the Bar-Kays.
“Rock Co.Kane Flow ft. MF DOOM” (2004)
From De La Soul’s seventh album, Jake One produces the MF DOOM feature track "Rock Co.Kane Flow" while Posdnuos lays it down: "So systematically inclined to pen lines, without saying the producer’s name all over the track. Yeah I said it! What you need to do is get back to reading credits." The track represented a masterful mashup of minds that ultimately helped Jake One raise his profile.
In an interview with Passion of the Weiss, Jake One told David Ma, "I don’t even think [De La Soul] knew who I was, but they ended up picking like five different beats and ‘Rock Co.’ was one of them. It was the one that surprised me out of what they picked. And what they do is, [Posdnuos] grabs a bunch of stuff he thinks is dope and Dave listens and has to agree on it. They make sure they’re on the same wavelength but they’re not always on the same wavelength [laughs]."
"Feel Good Inc." - Gorillaz (2005)
Released as a single from the Gorillaz second studio album, Demon Days, "Feel Good Inc." featuring De La Soul, secured the group’s GRAMMY-winner status in 2006.
The song climbed the charts, with the single topping the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for eight consecutive weeks and appearing on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end rankings for both 2005 and 2006. The song peaked at No. 14 in the U.S. and within the top 10 in 15 countries, reaching No. 1 in Spain and Greece, No. 2 in the United Kingdom and has been certified five times platinum in Canada and double-platinum in the United Kingdom.
"The Magic Number" (1989)
Originally released in 1989 on their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising, "The Magic Number" was also featured as the end-credit song in "Spiderman: No Way Home” in 2021 and was re-released in January 2023 to streaming platforms. The Spiderman feature sparked a renewed interest in the group among a new audience of fans, but remained unavailable on streaming platforms due to continuing legal battles over sample rights with the group’s former label, Tommy Boy Records.
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