De La Soul’s David Jolicoeur, Who Rapped as Trugoy the Dove, Dies at 54

David Jolicoeur of De La Soul, the rap trio that expanded hip-hop's vocabulary in the late 80s and early 90s with witty metaphors and humor, becoming MTV staples and heroes of the genre, died on Sunday. He was fifty-four years old. His death was confirmed by the group's publicist, Tony Ferguson, who did not explain the cause or say where Mr Jolicoeur was at the time of his death. In recent years, Mr. Jolicoeur has publicly discussed battling depression, including in the music video for the song "Royalty Capes." 

 De La Soul’s David Jolicoeur, Who Rapped as Trugoy the Dove, Dies at 54

De La Soul arrived with the album "3 Feet High and Rising" in 1989, a time when hip-hop was still in its infancy. The public face of this genre is often combative, with groups like Public Enemy and NWA speaking out against racism, police brutality and neglect faced by the black community in America.

In contrast, De La Soul - three young men from Long Island - showed the appearance of hippie flowers in the high school music video for their song "Me and Me." The band wore bags, glitter, scorn, and side-eyes in gold chains, black shades, and matching B-boy clothes.

Mr. Jolicoeur - whose original name in the band was Trugoy the Dove, although he was also known as Plug Two, Dove and later just Dave - had the opening opening of the song, revolving around legends. "Mirror mirror on the wall/Tell me mirror, what's going on?" he rapped. "Could this be my De La dress / or just my De La song?"

This album, along with singles that include "Say No Go" and "Eyes Know", reached only 24 on the Billboard 200 chart, but it is an instant classic that shows a new direction in hip-hop. Other albums include "De La Soul Is Dead" (1991), "Buhloone Mindstate" (1993) and "Stakes Is High" (1996). Together with his producer, Prince Paul, the group developed a style of raw and raw samples that bring new textures to hip-hop. "3 Feet High" contains songs from other 60's records, including not only Funkadelic and Ohio Players grooves - de rigueur in 1980s rap - but also strange things like sounds from old TV shows and recordings of French lessons. But legal problems related to its tax have become a problem for the members. One example, in the Turtles' psychedelic hit "You Showed Me" (1968), was not fully cleared, and the Turtles filed a lawsuit; the case was decided in court. Editor's Choice 

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Ongoing legal issues with sampling rights have prevented the band from releasing their music digitally, effectively locking out the third most important music market of the 21st century. Recently, the group finally cleared the samples and is preparing to release their music digitally in March. The group's light-hearted style - jokes and lyrics that can be irreverent or serious - have impressed fans and critics alike. He was one of the first hip-hop artists to join the college crowd and earned the reputation of "thinking hip-hoppers", as the critic Greg Tate put it in his review of "Buhloone Mindstate" in the New York Times . Mr. Tate wrote, "With disrespect and illusion," said Mr. Tate wrote, "De La Soul had the courage to go where few hip-hop acts would follow, abandoning the polemic Five Percent and gangster rap for songs on many topics. : ecology, baby addiction. , country, roller skating, fan abuse, gender anxiety, and even field work as examples of hip-hop.

David Jolicoeur was born on September 21, 1968 in Brooklyn and moved to Long Island with his family when he was a child. In Amityville, NY, Mr. Jolicoeur joined high school friends Kelvin Mercer, known as Posdnuos, and Vincent Mason, or Maseo, to form De La Soul. The band's demo for "Plug Tunin", which was later remixed into "3 Feet High and Rising", caught the attention of Stetsasonic's DJ Prince Paul, who quickly established himself as one of rap's greatest producers. have a gift. Their relationship introduced abstract, alternative hip-hop to his familiarity.

 "Every last poem is read in the afternoon," Mr. Jolicoeur rapped as Trugoy - concentrated yogurt, for favorite food. "Focused, let your Polaroids click / As they catch the smell of the evil noise called / Plug Tunin'." 

The trio maintained their sonic and comedy presence at gigs and school events in a space they called the "dugout", on Dixon Avenue in Amityville. Proudly representing the "Strong Island," De La Soul said his arrival in New York allowed him to keep tabs on the bastion of hip-hop, while the suburbs allowed him to grow and learn. "The island allowed us to see more," Mr. Jolicoeur told The New York Times in 2000. "It made us understand more." He added: “We have the opportunity to increase many things. And that is why we are who we are today. 

De La Soul went on to lead what was known as vernacular, a collective of foreign hip-hop groups such as A Tribe Called Quest and the Jungle Brothers, which influenced artists such as Mos Def and Common .

In addition to the visuals, De La Soul is very innovative in adding skits—conversations between songs—on its albums. In the Living of the 1989 of the red-colored person and the team "seems to have a smile - where they need to be as much as they are, even if they The taste of the most exciting line is charged about a trogoy status as a virgin. " 

 There are no digital service to prevent it from reaching new audience for years.
"We are in Congress, but we are not on iTunes," steel times in 2016. Two years earlier, the disillusioned group had abandoned almost all of their work, leaving it for free online for fans. His 2016 album, "An Anonymous Nobody," was funded by a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $600,000. The album is incredible.

Despite that, the group maintained a strong following among fans and artists. In 2005, De La Soul featured in "Feel Good Inc.", a hit from Gorillaz, a media project created by British singer Damon Albarn and filmmaker Jamie Hewlett. Mr. Jolicoeur recorded the song with Mr. Albarn. The song went to number 2 in Britain and number 14 in the United States.

In an interview with the group in The Times in 2016, Mr. Jolicoeur spoke of the trio's urgency to reclaim their old roles in public. "This song needs to be talked about and spread," he said. "He has to. When? We will see. And where it will happen.