There were three distinct instances in my life when everything I thought I knew and loved about music changed forever. When I heard Iggy Pop and the Stooges for the first time, my entire world turned to fire and the thrill of auditory chaos henceforth became central to my diet. The Beatles made me realize that love isn’t always a corny theme — love is cool.
Then, there was that night in Berlin when MTV premiered “Feel Good Inc.”
I was 9 years old at the time, posted up inside a hotel room with my older brother while Mum and Dad had stepped out to get groceries. We loved those moments because they gave us time to explore all the scandalous material available on European television we never got to see otherwise. While flicking channels, we came across this black-and-white face looming over a group of cartoon demons. That was my first time seeing and hearing Trugoy the Dove, and boy did it leave a mark.
“Laughin’ gas, these hazmats, fast cats,
Linin’ ’em up like ass cracks,
Play these ponies at the track,
It’s my chocolate attack”
This turned out to be far crazier than the things we were looking for, and I loved every second of it. It was all so confusing, but the rush was like nothing I’d ever felt before. Was this a band? Who were the demons? And who was that human among cartoons who kept laughing?
“Watch the way I navigate ha HA HA HA HA HA”
My brother and I stayed up, waiting for the song to play again. We wanted to watch the whole thing to try and understand what was happening, but more importantly, to just listen to that masterpiece again. It was 2005, so it kind of went like Audioslave, System of a Down, the White Stripes, Slipknot, Linkin Park … and there it was: “Feel Good Inc.” — Gorillaz feat. De La Soul.
This was my introduction to progressive and alternative hip-hop, and it all started with Trugoy the Dove. Outside hip-hop, that will be his legacy — opening the world up to a side of his culture that hadn’t always received the attention it deserved. To hip-hop heads, it’s no secret that the New York MC, alongside Posdnous and Maseo, made up one of the most hard-hitting, influential, and technically sound trios in the genre’s history.
Yesterday, on February 12, David Jude Jolicoeur aka Trugoy the Dove passed away at the age of 54. At this time, no cause of death has been revealed. The news comes just weeks before De La Soul’s entire catalog hits streaming platforms for the first time ever. Their absence from the cyberspace has played a huge role in their obscurity, and that will change on March 3.
Though the surviving members of De La Soul will most likely not perform their scheduled UK dates in April now, all their music will soon be available to the world. From their knockout debut, 3 Feet High and Rising, to multifaceted Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, this priceless discography will give us lifelong access to the late, great Trugoy the Dove.
So long as we have his music, he will live forever.
Cover photo by Sven Volkens
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