De La Soul Remembers Trugoy The Dove On His 56th Birthday

It’s been more than a year since Trugoy The Dove passed away. The De La Soul luminary, who suffered from heart issues and diabetes, died suddenly in February 2023, leaving fellow De La Soul members Maseo and Posdnuos behind to carry on his legacy.

True to their word, Mase and Pos continue to remember their fallen friend. On Saturday (September 21), on what would have been Trugoy’s 56th birthday, they shared a photo of him to the official De La Soul account. The caption, read: “‘The Birthdate is September Two One One Nine Six Eight…’ Happy Birthday David Jude Jolicoeur, Trugoy The Dove, Plug Two. #ThankYouDave.”

The lyrics they quoted come from the 2004 Grind Date single “Rock Co.Kane Flow” featuring MF DOOM.

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On February 12, the one-year anniversary of Trugoy’s passing, Pos wrote an emotional Instagram tribute to Trugoy The Dove, 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.”

Speaking to AllHipHop in March, shortly after the release of Three Feet High and Rising‘s expanded edition, Pos talked about feeling “conflicted” about tribute posts.

“It’s hard for me because Dave always talked about that with me,” Pos said at the time. “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.”

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Maseo admitted he was in a somber mood that day and that the rain made it feel more ominous.

“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.”

In terms of De La Soul’s future, the surviving members have committed to moving forward.

“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.”