Trugoy the Dove: Hip-Hop Hero

I’ll admit it: I wasn’t always a rap fan.

I came of age in the early MTV years, and while I had high school friends who would spin new artists like LL Cool J and Run DMC, the sound just didn’t lock in with my sensibilities. I was a young practicing musician at the time (read: snob), and while I could enjoy this new style to a certain extent (read: get high with friends while it played in the background), it didn’t fully feel like “real” music to me.

I made the mistake of confessing this to one of my more rabid rap-fan friends one day. He tossed me two recent releases and I was told to lock myself in my room, give them a good hard listen, and not come out until I stopped being such a dumbass.

I’m pretty sure that’s 92.3% verbatim.

Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

Cover photo: Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images

Wishing to better understand what had eluded me thus far in life, I dutifully did as asked. After a full day of non-stop listening to Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising, something finally clicked. I reemerged a transformed human (and hopefully a little bit less of a dumbass).

I can’t pretend to be an expert in the genre, but thanks to these artists, I grew to adore hip hop.

I awoke today to the sad news that De La Soul‘s David Jolicoeur —aka Trugoy the Dove — has shaken off this mortal coil at 54. The world wouldn’t be the same without his musical contributions.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to haul out 3 Feet High and get weepy for a bit.