David Jolicoeur, aka Trugoy, of De La Soul performs live on stage during the 'Gods of Rap' Tour at Wembley Arena on May 10, 2019 in London, England.
Photo by Jim Dyson via Getty Images.
Hip-Hop Reacts to The Death of De La Soul's Trugoy The Dove
February 13, 2023
Trugoy The Dove was 54 years old.
On the evening of Sunday, February 12th, a representative of De La Soul confirmed the death of founding member, David Jolicoeur, who rapped in the group as Trugoy The Dove. A cause, along with where and when the rapper passed, has yet to be revealed. Trugoy was 54 years old.
In recent years, Jolicoeur had openly discussed his battle with congestive heart failure. "The diagnosis that I received, as soon as I got home from the hospital, was that congestive heart failure was working itself on me again," the rapper recounted in the opening of a video for "Royalty Capes," a single from De La Soul's 2016 album, And The Anonymous Nobody (see below.) The group discussed it again in a 2020 live session when Jolicoeur was hospitalized during a scare.