Dave Of De La Soul Passes Away

blame it on Meka February 13, 2023

… it just doesn’t get any easier, doesn’t it?

Just six weeks after Gangsta Boo died, hip hop culture has suffered yet another tragedy as David Jude Jolicoeur of the legendary group De La Soul passed away yesterday (Feb. 12). The news was announced and confirmed by Tony Ferguson, the music group’s publicist.

At the time of this piece, a cause of death is not known, but Dave had been battling congestive heart failure for several years.

Also known as Trugoy the Dove or simply Dave, he — along with Vincent “Pasemaster Mase” Manson and Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer — formed De La Soul as high school classmates and friends in Long Island, New York in 1988. They would then released their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising in 1989 as members of the Native Tongues collective, which also included the likes of Queen Latifah, Jungle Brothers, and A Tribe Called Quest.

The group would release nine total albums, earn one platinum and two gold records, and win one Grammy Award in 2006 for their collaboration with Gorillaz, “Feel Good Inc.” Their 3 Feet High song, “The Magic Number,” was even featured as the end-credit song in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The group have sold over 5 million albums, but for decades were hampered due to legal complications related to sample clearances with their former label Tommy Boy Records. In 2021, however, Reservoir Media acquired the group’s catalog and — true to their word — cleared the way for the group’s first six albums to finally hit the streaming platforms on March 3, 2023

Dave was 54.

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