De La Soul’s music has finally arrived on streaming services, and to commemorate the occasion, the group gathered in New York City for a celebration that included appearances from Common,Queen Latifah and others.
Dubbed The D.A.I.S.Y. Experience, the bittersweet event — which also commemorated the life and legacy of Dave a.k.a. Trugoy the Dove, who tragically passed away last month — went down at Webster Hall on Thursday (March 3), and some of rap’s biggest stars stopped by to pay their respects.
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In addition to DJ sets from Clark Kent, D-Nice, Rich Medina, Tony Touch and Stretch Armstrong, the night saw surprise appearances from Common, Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli, Queen Latifah and Monie Love.
The latter two ran through their 1989 collab “Ladies First,” while Common performed his 2000 hit “The Light” before kicking a De La-inspired freestyle and trading bars with Kweli.
Other guests included Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Chuck D, Black Thought, Prince Paul, Just Blaze, Large Professor, Pharoahe Monch, Dave Chappelle and more.
Posdnuos and Maseo also took a moment to pay tribute to Trugoy, who passed away age 54 on February 12. A cause of death has yet to be announced.
“The first person I met was this beautiful human being named Regina Peter, and she made me feel really good about myself,” Pos told the crowd. “The second person I met was a brother named Mike Jolicoeur. For those of you that don’t know, Mike Jolicoeur is the brother of Dave Jolicoeur, and he meant everything to me.”
He continued: “By me meeting him, we forged a relationship, became brothers, became more than brothers. Became partners, in sum that created an energy that everyone around the world has humbled us by respecting and loving. I am truly thankful for all of you that are here. You best believe my n-gga Dave is looking down right now on everything.”
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Maseo kept the moment brief, but shouted out his late friend and groupmate, as well as De La Soul’s loyal fans.
“I usually have a lot of words to say, but I’m at a loss for words, yo,” he said. “My emotions are very displaced. My man is gone, but I appreciate all of y’all all these years for support.”
Pos previously shared a heartfelt eulogy to Trugoy in an Instagram post following his death.
“You brought so much creativity, energy, and passion to our music, and your influence will be felt for years to come,” he wrote. “Your passing is a great loss not only to us, but also to the entire Hip Hop community.
“You were a true artist who used music to inspire and uplift others, and you will be deeply missed by all who knew you. This is heavy on our hearts and minds but we are smiling and even laughing at all the great times we shared with you.”
De La Soul resolved their decades-long legal battle with Tommy Boy Records in 2021, with the group officially winning back the rights to all of their master recordings.
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De La Soul’s catalog was acquired by Reservoir Media as part of its acquisition of the Tommy Boy Records catalog, with a statement from the former confirming they’d be distributing the group’s first six albums on March 3.
“We can’t believe this day is finally here, and we are excited to be able to share our music with fans, old and new,” De La Soul said in a statement. “Golnar, Rell, Faith and the Reservoir team have been great partners in this entire process. We’re grateful that our relationship with them all has enabled this to happen.”
