De La Soul Pens Tribute to Trugoy the Dove: ‘Fly Into the Light’

Maseo and Posdnuos, the remaining members of De La Soul, paid tribute to their bandmate David “Trugoy The Dove” Jolicoeur on Wednesday.

Taking to social media, Maseo and Posdnuos posted letters addressed to Trugoy, who died at the age of 54 on Feb. 12 from causes not immediately revealed. Trugoy, who had recently been going by the name Dave and was also known as Plug Two, had been open about his struggles with congestive heart failure.

In his letter to Trugoy, Maseo thanked him for “having the birds eye view of our collective vision to be a group” and recalled how his mother had given him a nickname.

“I remember your mom calling you Dove, so you’ve always had wings, so go on and fly into the light,” Maseo wrote. “Merce and I will make sure your legacy is well preserved.”

In Pos’ tribute, he called Trugoy “the heart of our group.”

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“Thank you for the wise words placed in your verses. Thank you for the music you produced that is loved by so many,” he continued. “Thank you for never wanting to compromise the quality of our brand. Thank you for helping us become a group that will remain etched in the timeline of hip hop culture as well as the fabric of music and for now on when we perform “Ring Ring Ring Ha Ha Hey” we will say “2-2-2-2-222 we got an angel in heaven who can talk to you.”

After a two-year battle with Tommy Boy Records in the late 2010s, De La Soul retrieved their masters in Aug. 2021. In January, the group announced that the first six albums in their catalog would be returning to streaming services on March 3.

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