R.I.P. Trugoy The Dove of De La Soul, Dead At 54

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David Jude Jolicoeur, famously known as Trugoy the Dove of the hip-hop group De La Soul has passed away at age 54.

Jolicoeur representative Tony Ferguson confirmed the reports about his death Sunday. No other information about the cause of death was made available. Hot News Hip Hop points out that Jolicoeur previously opened up about battling congestive heart failure and living with a LifeVest machine affixed to his person, The AP reports.

After news of his death broke on Sunday, tributes from fans, colleagues, and fellow artists poured in on social media

“Dave! It was a honor to share so many stages with you,” wrote veteran rapper Big Daddy Kane on Instagram.

As reported by The Associated Press, rapper Erik Sermon posted on Instagram: “This one hurts. From Long Island from one of the best rap groups in Hiphop # Delasoul #plug2 Dave has passed away you will be missed… RIP.”

Young Guru added, “Rest in peace my brother. You were loved. @plugwondelasoul I love you brother we are here for you. Smiles I love you bro. This is crazy” and DJ Semtex wrote that it was “heart wrenching news.”

Trugoy did not join De La Soul at the Grammy Awards last week when the group took part in a tribute to hip-hop.

De La Soul announced recently that their first six studio albums will be re-released on streaming services this year.

Their album acclaimed “3 Feet High and Rising” was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2010 for its historical significance.

“It’s a hip-hop masterpiece for the era in which it was released,” Jolicoeur previously told Billboard. “I think the element of that time of what was taking place in music, hip-hop, and our culture, I think it welcomed that and opened up minds and spirits to see and try new different things. … I think the innocence that we had back then was brave, but we were in a time where innocence was so cool. Not sampling James Brown, but sampling Liberace; I think it was shocking (when) we came out (that) we sampled Liberace. I don’t know if it’d impact the same way (now).”