Trugoy the Dove, De La Soul co-founder, dead at 54

De La Soul co-founder, Trugoy the Dove, has died. He was 54.

David Jude Jolicoeur, known as Trugoy the Dove, was one of the founding members of the famed Long Island hip hop trio.

His representative, Tony Ferguson, confirmed the news Sunday. No other details pertaining to his passing were immediately shared.

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David Jolicoeur, also known as Trugoy the Dove of the band De La Soul, has died. (Photo by Matthew Eisman)

In recent years, Jolicoeur had said he was battling congestive heart failure, living with a LifeVest machine affixed to his person. 

De La Soul was part of the hip-hop tribute at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards last Sunday, but Jolicoeur did not join his fellow group members onstage.

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Vincent Mason aka Maseo, David Jolicoeur aka Trugoy the Dove and Kelvin Mercer aka Posdnuos AKA Pos of the band De La Soul. (Photo by Matthew Eisman)

Jolicoeur was born in Brooklyn but raised in the Amityville area of Long Island, where he met Vincent Mason (Pasemaster Mase) and Kelvin Mercer (Posdnuos). 

The three decided to form a rap group, with each taking on distinctive names. Trugoy, Jolicoeur said, was backwards for “yogurt.” More recently he’d been going by Dave.

In 2010, “3 Feet High and Rising” was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for its historic significance.

Trugoy of De La Soul was 54 when he died. (Photo by Miikka Skaffari)

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“It’s a hip-hop masterpiece for the era in which it was released,” Jolicoeur told Billboard earlier this year. 

“I think the element of that time of what was taking place in music, hip-hop, and our culture, I think it welcomed that and opened up minds and spirits to see and try new different things. … I think the innocence that we had back then was brave, but we were in a time where innocence was so cool. Not sampling James Brown, but sampling Liberace; I think it was shocking (when) we came out (that) we sampled Liberace. I don’t know if it’d impact the same way (now).”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.