De La Soul star Trugoy the Dove has died aged 54, according to US media reports.
The founding member of the pioneering hip-hop trio – real name David Jolicoeur – is believed to have passed away following a battle with congestive heart failure in recent years.
No cause of death has been given for the rapper, who co-founded the group alongside Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer) and Maseo (Vincent Lamont Mason, Jr.).
De La Soul have yet to speak publicly about his passing and it’s unclear whether their forthcoming UK Tour dates will go ahead in April.
Coinciding with the reissue of their iconic debut album, the hip-hop collective’s first six albums – ‘3 Feet High And Rising’ (1989), ‘De La Soul Is Dead’ (1991), ‘Buhloone Mindstate’ (1993), ‘Stakes Is High’ (1996), ‘Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump’ (2000) and ‘Art Official Intelligence: Bionix’ (2001) – will be released digitally from March 3.
Only their three most recent albums are currently on Spotify, with their early catalogue having initially been withheld due to a dispute with their label, Warner Records, owing to samples on the recordings only being cleared for physical media distribution.
In 2017, the catalogue was purchased by Tommy Boy Records and two years later the group first announced a move to streaming. However, it was once again delayed before Tommy Boy was acquired by Reservoir Media, after which rapper Talib Kweli confirmed De La Soul now owns the rights to the masters.
