David Jude Jolicoeur

• Other Names — * Trugoy the Dove • Plug Two • Dave • Birth Name — David Jude Jolicoeur • Born — 21 September 1968 • Birthplace — New York City, U.S. • Education — Amityville Memorial High School • Occupation — * Rapper • songwriter • record producer • Years Active — 1988–2023 • Died — 12 February 2023

• Illustration — Dave and Maseo of De La Soul at Gods of Rap 2019 in Berlin Jolicoeur was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Haitian-American parents. He was raised in the Long Island hamlet of East Massapequa. He attended Amityville Memorial High School in the Amityville area of Long Island.

In high school, Jolicoeur befriended Vincent Mason, Kelvin Mercer, and Paul Huston. After they had separate solo spells in local groups, Jolicoeur, Mason, and Mercer eventually joined together to form the rap group De La Soul. They adopted the stage names, respectively, Trugoy the Dove, Maseo, and Posdnuos. Later in his career, Jolicoeur revealed that the first part of his stage name was just the word "yogurt" backwards. Huston, best known as Prince Paul, kept working with the trio as their producer. With their eccentric fashion styles paired with the positive messages of the group's debut effort, 3 Feet High and Rising, the image led to critics and journalists labelling the members as "the hippies of hip hop" (a title that the group was quick to refute with the release of its second album De La Soul Is Dead in 1991).

In the last years of his life, Jolicoeur was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and had to wear a LifeVest defibrillator machine in order to counteract its symptoms. He first revealed his health issues publicly in November 2017, in the opening scene for the music video of "Royalty Capes", a track from De La Soul's 2016 album And the Anonymous Nobody.... At the start of the video, Jolicoeur explains how his heart problems affected his ability to perform and tour with the group consistently, saying: "[The LifeVest defibrillator] will shock me, and hopefully bring me back from the matrix. I'm ready just to get back to the stage. I miss it. I love traveling; I love being around my guys. And I want that back." On February 5, 2023, De La Soul participated in a special performance for the 50 Years of Hip-Hop at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, performing their 1988 song "Buddy". However, Jolicoeur did not appear or perform on stage. One week later, on February 12, 2023, his representative Tony Ferguson announced that Jolicoeur had died at age 54, with the cause of his death being congestive heart failure. Following the announcement, Jolicoeur received tributes from several important figures in the hip hop industry.

David Jude Jolicoeur is recorded as rapper, record producer and composer.