De La Soul On Life After Trugoy The Dove’s Death: “We Still Got A Lot In The Tank”

De La Soul suffered an insurmountable loss last February, when beloved member Dave “Trugoy The Dove” Jolicoeur died at the age of 54. The timing couldn’t have been worse. After years of battling their former label Tommy Boy Records for their masters, the New York City trio’s first six albums— Three Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate, Stakes Is High, Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump and AOI: Bionix—were finally getting a digital release. Three weeks before the momentous occasion, tragedy struck.

Forced to move forward without him, Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer and Vincent “Maseo” Mason are now tasked with the enormous responsibility of continuing his legacy. And so far, it’s been a beautiful thing to witness for De La Soul fans. On February 12, the one-year anniversary of Trugoy’s passing, Pos penned a deeply moving tribute to him via Instagram, writing, “I feel conflicted posting this on this date…Dave disliked when people were publicly remembered on the day they were lost.

“The day they transitioned but I’m sure he also respected how people chose to remember those they love and have lost. So on this day I will stand alongside all the people who cherish him as well as kept us in their prayers but to be clear I miss him in the physical everyday, rep for him everyday & will talk to someone about him everyday.”

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On Friday (March 1), De La Soul released an expanded version of their 1988 debut, Three Feet High and Rising, which came with six bonus tracks (two of them home demos). Ahead of its release, Pos and Mase had a little time to reflect on their friend, who they affectionately call Dave, in the year since his death. In fact, Pos talked about the Instagram post and explained why he was so hesitant to share it.

“It’s hard for me because Dave always talked about that with me,” Pos tells AllHipHop. “He’s like, ‘Yo, why do they do that? Even with it Dilla, he would be like, ‘Why are they celebrating his death?’ Or Biggie—’Why are they spending all this time talking about his death? I could see celebrating a birthday, but his death?’ So I felt conflicted and that’s what i put in the post. I talked to Mase about it and I was like, ‘Yo, I’m trying to let the fans know, like this is a one-off. I’m going to do this because I know y’all have been there for us throughout this whole year supporting us with our bittersweet success.

“They’ve been very helpful with helping me and Mase get through it, but this is a one-off. When I got closer to them putting up the post, I didn’t want to come off like that. I wanted them to know how Dave felt and how I felt, but I understand how y’all feel and I’m going to honor him each year. But I just need y’all to understand, I celebrate Dave every day. I think about him every day. I’m going to be upset that we lost him every day. So I’m not going to allow this one day to break me down.”

It was different for Mase though. Although he’s the more animated one of the three, he found himself in a strange mood that day and the rain only added to the melancholic feeling he was experiencing.

“That was a hard day for me,” he says. “I was pretty much silent the whole day. Pos’ post was the reason I didn’t post. Straight up. When I saw his post, I was like, ‘That’s good enough.’ I think my silence says it all, because I’m usually the loudest one. I know my silence speaks volumes. I’m not angry. I’m just extremely sad. What I’m glad about is he’s no longer in pain.”

As for De La Soul’s musical journey, all is not lost. There’s still more work to do. As Maseo confirms, “The plan is definitely to step out and put my best foot forward to make AOI 3 a reality. We are definitely looking to complete that mission. Pos has other ideas that he’s trying to bring to fruition. We got the blessing of friends and family—and Dave’s family in particular— for us to keep moving forward. We were actually kind of summoned to it.

“We went to Dave’s memorial at his house, and everybody that we grew up with was like, ‘Y’all know y’all gotta keep going.’ And on so many levels I feel like we have to and, at the same time, we want to. We still got a lot in the tank.”

In the meantime, find the expanded version of Three Feet High and Rising here.