David Jolicoeur died on Sunday aged 54
(Picture: Getty Images)David Jude Jolicoeur, known widely as Trugoy the Dove and one of the founding members of the Long Island hip-hop trio De La Soul, has died.
His representative Tony Ferguson confirmed the reports of his death, the cause of which has not been revealed. Jolicoeur had recently claimed to be suffering from congestive heart failure and to be using a LifeVest machine that was permanently attached to his body.
He was also noticeably absent at last week’s Grammys.
So who was Jolicoeur and what are De La Soul’s biggest hits?
Where was David Jolicoeur from?
Jolicoeur was born in Brooklyn on September 21, 1968 but raised in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York.
What was David Jolicoeur known for?
Jolicoeur was a rapper, producer and one third of the hip-hop group De La Soul.
The 54-year-old was also a member of the Spitkicker collective.
He was widely recognised for his rap in the second verse of the Gorillaz song Feel Good Inc.
Who did he form De La Soul with?
Growing up in Amityville, he met Vincent Mason (Pasemaster Mase) and Kelvin Mercer (Posdnuos) and they 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.
What are De La Soul’s biggest hits?
De La Soul’s debut studio album 3 Feet High and Rising, produced by Prince Paul, was released in 1989 by Tommy Boy Records. It featured some of their biggest hits such as The Magic Number, Eye Know, Me Myself and I and Oooh.
The US’s de facto national library, the Library of Congress, added 3 Feet High and Rising to the National Recording Registry in 2010 in recognition of its historic value.
After a protracted legal and publishing dispute with Tommy Boy Records, De La Soul released eight further albums.
The group have been nominated for six Grammy Awards, winning one for Best Pop Vocal Collaboration for the Gorillaz song Feel Good Inc.
