De La Soul’s Trugoy the Dove Delivers Posthumous Rhymes on New Gorillaz Cut ‘Crocadillaz’

De La Soul‘s Trugoy the Dove left us last month, at the age of 54, but the rapper’s vocals live on by way of a surprise Gorillaz song.

The British virtual group last Friday (Feb. 24) released Cracker Island, their collaboration-stuffed eighth studio album, and first since 2020’s Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez.

Now, a three-pack of fresh tracks arrive as part of the “Deluxe” edition, including “Crocadillaz” featuring De La Soul and Dawn Penn, “Captain Chicken” featuring Del The Funky Homosapien, and “Controllah” featuring Brazil’s MC Bin Laden.

Trugoy the Dove, who also went by the name Dave, contributed a posthumous verse to “Crocadillaz,” which has an unmistakable De La Soul vibe woven into its beats.

Stream it below.

The death of the visionary hip-hop artist, born David Jolicoeur, came just weeks before De La Soul’s classic catalog is set to finally arrive on streaming and digital platforms this Friday March 3, following a 2021 deal struck with Reservoir Media.

Gorillaz’ Cracker Island, meanwhile, is on track for the U.K. No. 1. Led by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and “Tank Girl” artist Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz has clocked up six top 10 appearances on the national albums chart since their 2001 self-titled debut, which peaked at No. 3. To date, the “cartoon” band has led the U.K. survey just once, with 2005’s Demon Days, and bagged four top 10s on the Billboard 200.

Cracker Island features assists from the likes of Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Thundercat, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Bootie Brown and Beck, and was the leader on the midweek U.K. chart.

Stream the “Deluxe” version of Cracker Island below.