De La Soul
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In this very special update of the CRT FRSH playlist, we’re turning our focus on the legendary trio, De La Soul. To honor the Plugs getting their music back onto streaming services, we’re featuring 33 (see what we did there?) tracks from the Long Island legends.
As every other Hip-Hop publication has artfully noted, the release of De La Soul’s in digital and downloadable form comes as fans of the group are still mourning the passing of David Jolicoeur, largely known as Dave and formerly known as Trugoy The Dove. Plug Two, as he was affectionately known, passed on Feb. 12 of this year at the age of 54.
Breaking the wall here a bit, I can tell you as a young man growing up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., having music created by a group that represented all sides of my personality and embodied some of my hopes and dreams was so instrumental in my development as a person. De La Soul made it cool to be a little left of center, and also be prepared to handle one’s self if needed as the crew told us on the track “Area” from Buhloone Mindstate.
While some might consider Posdonous the best rapper in the group, Plug Two was always my favorite within the rapping portion of De La Soul for reasons far too music nerdy to share here. All I’ll add to this is that a random encounter with Dave some years ago inside Reagan National Airport was a beautiful moment I’ll never forget. Truly a humble giant. May he rest in powerful peace.
CRT FRSH is largely about celebrating the up-and-coming acts in the wide world of Hip-Hop but we thought it best to shift gears and turn our collective attention on the magnificent discography of De La Soul and how much they’ve impacted the culture of Hip-Hop over the past three decades.
The De La Soul edition of the CRT FRSH playlist can be found below.
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Photo: Getty
Written By D.L. Chandler , Senior Editor Posted 7 mins ago @dlchandler123 D.L. Chandler is a veteran of the Washington D.C. metro writing scene, working as a journalist, reporter, and culture critic. Initially freelancing at iOne Digital in 2010, he officially joined the iOne team in 2017 where he currently works as a Senior Editor […]
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Source: De La Soul / Amazon Music
The untimely passing of De La Soul’s Trugoy The Dove is still reverberating throughout the Hip-Hop community. To honor their dear friend and co-founder’s charmed life, De La’s Pos and Mase have announced The DA.I.S.Y. Experience, which will go down in New York City at Webster Hall on Thursday, March 2.
The DA.I.S.Y. Experience will “celebrate the life and legacy of the late David “Trugoy The Dove” Jolicoeur and the influence and impact of De La Soul” per an announcement from the group
De La fans will surely be familiar with “Da Inner Sound Y’all” that the DA.I.S.Y. acronym stems from. Touted as an “immersive activation” Webster Hall will be transformed into a De La destination utilizing artwork from the group’s seminal debut, 3 Feet High and Rising. The following day (March 3), the Long Island trio’s music (that was issued on Tommy Boy) will finally hit streaming services.
The DA.I.S.Y. Experience is produced in conjunction with Amazon Music. Handling the evening’s sounds will be The Originals; DJ’s Stretch Armstrong, Clark Kent, Rich Medina, and Tony Touch—who will curate sets in homage to De La Soul. Expect plenty of rare grooves and breaks that group sampled over the years.
If you can’t make it, fans will be able to watch the set on Maseo’s Twitch Channel starting at 8 p.m. ET. Posdnuos and Maseo will be in the building to honor Dave and you can RSVP to the free event here: thedaisyexperience.com.
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The passing of Dave aka Trugoy The Dove was a gut punch to fans of De La Soul. Fellow group members and “brothers” Posdnous and Maseo took to social media to express how much Plug Two meant to their global following and themselves personally.
“Dear Dave, You were the heart of our group,” wrote Pos on Instagram. “You brought so much creativity, energy, and passion to our music, and your influence will be felt for years to come. Your passing is a great loss not only to us, but also to the entire hip-hop community. You were a true artist who used music to inspire and uplift others, and you will be deeply missed by all who knew you.”
As for P.A. Pasemaster Mase aka Plug Three, he shared similar sentiments.
“Dave – thank you so much for being in my life,” wrote Maseo on Instagram. “Although you and I would argue like hell, we would both admit when we were wrong and totally come full circle and say, ‘I Love You.’ I want to truly thank you for having the birds eye view of our collective vision to be a group.
Pos, Mase and Dave met in high school before connecting with Prince Paul after he heard their demon of “Plug Tunin’,” and the rest is Hip-Hop history. Perhaps most bittersweet is that De La Soul’s catalog of classic albums on Tommy Boy Records will finally hit streaming services in March.
RIP Dave.
De La Soul members Maseo and Posdnuos have broken their silence, taking to social media on Wednesday (Feb. 22) to share heartfelt tributes to their De La Soul bandmate, David Jolicoeur a.k.a. Trugoy The Dove, who died earlier this month at age 54.
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“Although you and I would argue like hell, we would both admit when we were wrong and totally come full circle and say, ‘I Love You.’ I want to truly thank you for having the birds eye view of our collective vision to be a group,” Maseo wrote in a emotional, lengthy post shared to De La Soul’s official Instagram page. “I remember your mom calling you Dove, so you’ve always had wings, so go on and fly into the light, Merce and I will make sure your legacy is well preserved.”
Posdnuos echoed in his own tribute posted to Instagram, “You were the heart of our group. You brought so much creativity, energy, and passion to our music, and your influence will be felt for years to come.”
He continued, “We would like to say thank you Dave for being a big brother. Thank you for being a friend. Thank you for the wise words placed in your verses. Thank you for the music you produced that is loved by so many. Thank you for never wanting to compromise the quality of our brand. Thank you for helping us become a group that will remain etched in the timeline of hip hop culture as well as the fabric of music and for now on when we perform ‘Ring Ring Ring Ha Ha Hey’ we will say ‘2-2-2-2-222 we got an angel in heaven who can talk to you.’”
With a career spanning more than three decades, De La Soul is known as one of hip-hop’s most innovative and eclectic groups. Formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, Dave (Trugoy the Dove) and members Posdnuos and Maseo met in high school.
See below for the touching tributes.
Written By D.L. Chandler , Senior Editor Posted 20 mins ago @dlchandler123 D.L. Chandler is a veteran of the Washington D.C. metro writing scene, working as a journalist, reporter, and culture critic. Initially freelancing at iOne Digital in 2010, he officially joined the iOne team in 2017 where he currently works as a Senior Editor […]
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Some good Hip-Hop news at the top of 2023. De La Soul’s catalog of classic music, most of which has been missing from streaming services for years, will finally be available in March.
The group—Dave (fka Trugoy The Dove), Posdnous and Mase—announced on Tuesday (Jan. 3), that their music would be on streamers starting March 2. The date happens to coincide with the anniversary the Long Island Hip-Hop group’s landmark debut album 3 Feet High and Rising.
“The Reservoir and Chrysalis teams have worked with De La Soul, and their record label, AOI, to bring their music to digital streaming services,” said De La in a statement, as reported by Variety. “Reservoir is pleased to share that De La Soul’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 ‘AOI: Bionix’ (2001), will be available to fans everywhere March 3rd, 2023, on the 34th anniversary of the release of their debut album, ‘3 Feet High and Rising.’”
De La Soul’s catalog was largely absent from streaming services due to sample clearance issues. However, in 2021, their catalog on Tommy Boy Records was acquired by Reservoir Media, which has been at work to finally make De La’s music available on services like Spotify and Amazon Music. But that took longer than expected with initial reports saying the music would land back in November 2021.
Read more about De La Soul’s triumphant return to streaming at Variety.
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