Soul.survivors

De La Soul's return was shattered by the death of Dave 'Trugoy' Jolicoeur. Now a duo, they discuss grief, Gorillaz and never giving up

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IN EARLY 2023, DE LA SOUL - Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer, Dave "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur and Vincent "Maseo" Mason - were preparing the reissue of perhaps the most warmly loved discography in hiphop. Their albums had long been absent from streaming platforms, due to disagreements with their old label, Tommy Boy, and issues over samples that needed to be cleared. "It felt like we'd been erased from history," says Posdnuos. "A whole new generation wasn't being introduced to our music." After years of legal wrangling, the first six albums were primed to resurface, promoted by TV appearances and a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London. De La Soul's long-awaited resurrection was about to happen.

But Posdnuos was anxious. While Maseo and their longtime producer Prince Paul had been working on the reissues, Posdnuos and Trugoy had spent 2022 on Gorillaz's epic world tour, performing their collaboration Feel Good Inc each night. "Dave had been having issues with his heart for a few years," Posdnuos says. "And it was a lot for him to go out and perform that song. I told Mase: 'I don't know how we gonna put new music out or play De La shows where Dave will have to be on stage for an hour. But I didn't know how serious it was, because Dave wasn't letting us know."

Trugoy died on 12 February, two weeks before the reissues were released. "It was devastating," Posdnuos says by phone, almost two years to the day after Trugoy's death. "It's still shocking to me." Their friendship had held strong for almost 40 years.