R.I.P. Trugoy the Dove

With a few exceptions (Outkast, Missy Elliott), my interest in Hip Hop mostly ended after Gangsta Rap killed off the Native Tongues related stuff of the late 80s-early 90s, and De La Soul were the kings of that style. Three Feet High and Rising remains the single greatest Hip Hop album of all time to my ears, so the passing of Trugoy the Dove hits pretty hard.

Damn, just before their first five albums will finally be readily available again. The fact that they were off streaming so long left De La Soul a bit forgotten by younger people, especially compared to A Tribe Called Quest.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2023 08:19PM by steevee.

I actually think that the follow-up, "De La Soul Is Dead," is superior, but there's no denying the impact of "Three Feet High and Rising." It was radical and new, but accessible enough for teeny-boppers. I remember marveling that when Pere Ubu sampled a French-language instruction record, it was weird avant-gardeness for a small audience, but when De La did it, it was on an album that was a mainstream pop hit. I just remember thinking how great it was that the normals were (kinda) on my page now. An exciting time.

And it's sad and strange when people younger than me die.

De La Soul is Dead is the only hip-hop album I ever purchased, and one of only three (The Low End Theory and Fear of a Black Planet being the others) that I have listened to beginning to end. I honestly don't think I'm missing a thing when it comes to that genre, but that is not to denigrate any of it. If anything, I learned about Parliament and Funkadelic through the little I did hear, especially through songs like "Me, Myself, and I." So, thank you, Trugoy, for that.

I always admired the psychedelic filter that De La Soul applied to Hip Hop. It helped to broaden the genre in new directions. Sampling P-Funk didn't hurt a bit! And Trugoy The Dove named himself after one of my favorite foods! The poor guy was only 54 and had congestive heart failure - a real shame and a tough way to go. It [regrettably] took me years to accept Hip Hop as anything but a fad that I didn't understand. After Run-DMC, De La Soul were another group that were making Hip Hop I could wrap my head around.

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

The remix of the song Buddy was my introduction to De La. Just so freaking cool and care free, so many cool samples and guest spots that actually fit the song. I had never even heard the album version until I bought 3 Feet. At first I thought my record player was toasted, I was like this is not Buddy. But that version grew on me over time, still love the dance floor version with the Queen and Monie but the slowed down kicking it version is great too. Not totally unlike when I bought an import Style Council Cafe Bleu with the slow My Ever Changing Moods, I was so pissed off. But now that is honestly my favorite version of that song, it was just so different than the one I heard in clubs and the radio. Both 3 Feet and Cafe hold places in my own personal hall of fame for albums that I can still listen to from start to finish regularly.

I bought the “Jenifa Taught Me” 12” before “3Ft” was released and gotta say I do think it is superior to the album version. Stone cold classic.

Nice. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but the late 80’s found me falling out of love with all the post new wave/ alternative/ college rock I’d been overdosing on.

I needed change man…. and hip hop just happened to be having what I still call it’s golden year —1988. Kinda like what 1979 was to post punk?

Public Enemy, Eric B and rakim, big daddy Kane, jungle brothers, etc etc… and the initial recordings of de la soul. What a time to discover that music.
I felt like I was breaking an unwritten law listening to this stuff…talk about rebellion.

I didn't know any of De La Soul's music until the '00s - I remember my local library's copy of the 10th anniversary edition of "3 Feet High and Rising" being my introduction - and it's probably for the reasons breno mentioned. The fact that legal and financial reasons made albums like theirs (and "Paul's Boutique," and Public Enemy's with the Bomb Squad, etc.) more or less impossible to make by that point made "3 Feet High and Rising" all the more stunning. I was already listening to a lot of Beck, but compared to "Odelay" the sonic collage was even more dense and more free in terms of where they would draw from and where they would go. In spirit, I want to say my favorite hip-hop at the time didn't seem that far removed from De La Soul - OutKast and then Kanye West's first albums were just as relatable and adventurous in their own way. Their first four still hold up as genuinely great albums in my book but I like the AOI albums too, especially Bionix. Everything they did for Tommy Boy including their 12" singles are worth hearing many times over.

We first heard De La Soul being played on the PA system at Oak Mountain Amphitheater in Birmingham. The bill was Drivin' n' Cryin' and Georgia Satellites, so we simply didn't expect to hear hip-hop between the bands. And my wife (who was my fiancée at the time) had never gotten much into hip-hop. To her, too many rappers sounded as if they just were shouting at her. But we were amused and entertained by this act using samples from Schoolhouse Rock. We found out who it was, and checked out 3 Feet High and Rising. Definitely one of the grand masterpieces of the genre ... and the first chapter in an excellent body of work.

It's easy to see how they got swept aside from mass appreciation, appearing around the same time as groups like N.W.A. To me, that's a total shame. Along with the rest of the Native Tongues crew and Digital Underground, I consider De La Soul to be one of the last great things about hip-hop, before I lost interest in the genre altogether. Rest in peace, Trugoy, and thanks.