Damon Albarn is just one of many mourning the loss of David Jude Jolicoeu, the hip-hop pioneer better known as Trugoy the Dove. The Gorillaz bandleader honored the late De La Soul co-founder with an instrumental clip shared on Instagram today.
Trugoy died on February 12th following a recent congestive heart failure diagnosis. As a De La Soul member, he collaborated frequently with Albarn and Gorillaz, including on the virtual band’s unforgettable breakout hit “Feel Good Inc.” and on their albums Plastic Beach and Humanz.
Albarn’s video tributing Trugoy isn’t of any song they’ve done together, instead featuring a short instrumental of an unreleased song, where all we can see is a close-up of the piano’s hammers: “A loop for Dave. I love you,” Albarn wrote in the caption.
Gorillaz’s Instagram account also posted a photo of the band performing with De La Soul: “Our brother, we love you,” the caption reads. See both tributes to Trugoy below.
As fate would have it, De La Soul recently confirmed that all six of their studio albums will finally come to all major streaming platforms on March 3rd, 2023, the same day they’ll unveil the reissue of their 1989 classic 3 Feet High and Rising. Gorillaz will share their next album Cracker Island on February 24th.