The Hip Hop community suffered a devastating blow in February when Dave Jolicoeur—better known as De La Soul MC Trugoy The Dove or simply, Dave—unexpectedly died at the age of 54. The timing was particularly cruel considering the New York City-bred trio had been fighting tirelessly for years to regain control of their music catalog. And finally, on March 3, De La Soul's first six albums—3 Ft. High & Rising, De La Soul is Dead, Buhloone Mindstate, Stakes Is High, AOI: Bionix and AOI: Mosaic Thump—were made available on streaming platforms for the first time ever. But Trugoy wasn't there to see it. Instead, the other members of the group—Posdnuos and Maseo—gathered with friends and family at Webster Hall in NYC to celebrate the bittersweet moment without him.
Months later, Mase and Pos are still reeling from his death. In the wee hours of Sunday (June 4), Maseo shared an Instagram photo of a new mural erected in Trugoy's honor. He wrote in the caption, "I miss you Dave" alongside a crying emoji. The text above the mural read: "Things are really different because you are gone. I'm different, Merce is different but we are strong. I miss you big bro!"
Maseo's post elicited a slew of responses from his famous friends, including Busta Rhymes, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Stretch Armstrong, Ladybug Mecca, DJ EFN, Hi-Tek, DJ Lord, Stro Elliott, Z-Trip, Easy Moe Bee, Wise Intelligent and many more.
The mural also caught the attention of Black Sheep MC Dres, who couldn't help himself from snapping a photo with the artists who created it. He wrote, "When I took this picture, my eyes began to tear.. and wouldn’t stop.. I had to walk a bit and get my bearing .. I went back behind the stage and met these gents… they did the piece… Peace." He also tagged the Bushwick Collective. Find it here.
