De La Soul co-founder Dave Jolicoeur, better known as Trugoy the Dove, has died at the age of 54, a representative for the group confirmed to Variety. Details were not immediately available, but he has suffered from health problems for several years and in 2018 he said Jolicoeur had been battling congestive heart failure.
Unfortunately, his death occurs just a few weeks before the The pioneering hip-hop group’s key catalog will finally be available on streaming services.. His 1989 album «3 Feet High and Rising» is universally recognized as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, but it hasn’t been included on streaming services due to lengthy legal battles over sample clearances. and other matters. The group in many ways was a guinea pig for sampling lawswhich was a new field at the time of the album’s release, but quickly became one when the rights holders of the songs sampled on the album sued the group and their label at the time, Tommy Boy Records.
No doubt the lawsuits put a damper on the group’s career, though they’ve continued to release albums ever since and were also featured on Gorillaz’s 2005 hit single «Feel Good Inc.» Tommy Boy’s catalog was acquired in 2021 by Reservoir Media, which announced last month that the group’s albums «3 Feet High and Rising,» «De La Soul Is Dead,» «Buhloone Mindstate,» «Stakes Is High» and “Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump” and “AOI: Bionix” will be available on streaming services for the first time legally on March 3.
He the group’s influence was recognized at the Grammy Awards last weekend during the Questlove-led all-star hip-hop celebration with a brief performance of «Buddy,» a song from «3 Feet High,» though Posdnos (Kevin Mercer) was the only member of the group to perform.
His song «The Magic Number», also from «3 Feet High», was appeared in the 2021 hit movie «Spider-Man: No Way Home» however, the catalog was not yet available on streaming services at the time, frustrating fans and costing the group significant streaming royalties, but the situation shed more light on their legal struggles.
Shortly before the announcement of the release of his catalog to all streamers in January 2023, De La Soul reportedly finished recording his tenth studio album with production by Pete Rock and DJ Premier, with a promised 2023 release on Mass Appeal Records. .