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David Jude Jolicoeur (1968–2023): The yogurt as a rapper name
Photo: Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images
The fact that David Jude Jolicoeur borrowed his stage name from a soft, almost liquid foodstuff and the symbol animal for peace says a lot about the position taken by the rap trio De La Soul in the late 1980s: he called himself Trugoy The Dove (yogurt backwards and dove ) and De La Soul stood for the "Daisy Age" - the daisy age of hip-hop.
De La Soul caused quite a stir in 1989 with their debut album »3 Feet High and Rising«.
It went platinum in the US and UK, and the single "Me, Myself and I" was also a big hit in Germany.
The music critics of magazines such as "Village Voice", "New Musical Express" or "Spex" chose "3 Feet High and Rising" as album of the year;
With samples from sources such as Johnny Cash and Steely Dan to Hall & Oates, De La Soul founded alternative hip-hop with album producer Prince Paul.
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De La Soul 1996
Photo: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images
Trugoy founded De La Soul with his school friends Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer) and Maseo (Vincent Mason) in 1988 in Amityville on Long Island in the US state of New York.
After hitting the ground running with "3 Feet High and Rising", De La Soul stayed true to "Conscious Hip Hop", but the colourful, Afrocentric looks and bold pop samples drove them on their second album "De La Soul Is Dead" in 1991 return.
The criticism was divided, the single "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" became a top ten hit in Germany.
The group stayed together, released a total of eight albums, most recently "And the Anonymous Nobody..." in 2016.
As rapping feature guests on the song "Feel Good Inc" by the British comic band project Gorillaz, they had another big hit in 2005, which was also awarded a Grammy.
Various US media reported on Sunday about Trugoy's death.
His rep confirmed to the Associated Press news agency that Dave Jolicoeur has died at the age of 54.
A cause of death was not initially given.
Trugoy, aka Dave Jolicoeur, has spoken publicly about heart problems in recent years.
He was wearing a defibrillator vest.
Following the news of Trugoy's death, numerous hip-hop stars expressed their condolences.
Rapper Big Daddy Kane said, "It's been an honor to be on so many stages with you."
feb/AFP/AP