De La Soul Shares Inspiration Behind New Album Title, Confirms Release Date

Da La Soul plans to pay tribute to their late member, Trugoy The Dove, on their first album in nearly a decade.

On Friday, October 10, Posdnuos and DJ Maseo participated in a panel discussion with Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Nas, DJ PREMIER, and Slick Rick at New York Comic Con about the launch of Marvel and Mass Appeal's new comic book collaboration, Legend Has It. During their chat, the iconic rap group spoke about their 10th studio album and revealed the title, Cabin In The Sky. Pos said the title was inspired by the 1943 all-Black musical film starring Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington.

“We’re working and working [on the album], and I come across this movie," Pos explained, per HipHopDX. "And I’m like, ‘Yo, this title is crazy!’ Cabin in the Sky. Immediately, I felt Dave."

De La Soul's Trugoy The Dove, born David Jolicoeur, passed away in 2023 following several years of health issues. He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and told the world about it in the 2017 music video for "Royalty Capes." A week after he missed De La Soul's performance during the 50 Years of Hip-Hop tribute at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, Dave's rep confirmed he died at age 54. Pos said Dave's death broke him and Maseo, but they decided to keep his spirit alive through their music.

“When we lost him … I came and got [Maseo] out of the hole," Pos explained. "We were all broken, but I kinda took on that role in Beat Street where I was like, ‘Yo, man, we gotta treat Dave like Ramon — we gotta keep him alive, we gotta celebrate him,'” he said.

“Of course, we have songs with Dave on it but — yo, for me, and I’m sure there are people here who are spiritual and understand what I’m saying, it feels like, ‘Dave’s here for me. He’s here.’ There are times where I’m writing rhymes and I’m getting goosebumps ’cause I feel like Dave would be saying, ‘Yo, that’s dope!'”

De La Soul's new album Cabin In The Sky is part of Mass Appeal's "Legend Has It" series. It will arrive after Big L's upcoming album, Harlem's Finest: Rise of the Forgotten King, drops on Halloween and before Nas & DJ PREMIER's joint LP is released in December. Look out for De La Soul's new album on November 21.