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For iconic Long Island, New York hip-hop group De La Soul, 2023 was the very definition of bittersweet. <\/span><\/p>\n After decades of sample clearance issues and lengthy disputes with former record label Tommy Boy, the trio\u2019s first six albums \u2014 including 1989\u2019s game-changing masterpiece<\/span> 3 Feet High and Rising<\/span><\/i> \u2014 finally reached streaming services on March 3rd of that year. What should have been a celebration for a hard-won victory was marred by the tragic February 12th passing of founding member David \u201cTrugoy the Dove\u201d Jolicoeur, 54, who\u2019d been living with congestive heart failure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the urging of Trugoy\u2019s sister Cindy, the group\u2019s remaining members Kelvin \u201cPosdnuos\u201d Mercer, 56, and Vincent \u201cMaseo\u201d Mason, 55, decided to continue as De La Soul to honour their fallen friend and keep his legacy alive. <\/span><\/p>\n That mission has culminated in ninth album <\/span>Cabin in the Sky<\/span><\/i>, the group\u2019s first LP since 2016\u2019s Grammy-nominated <\/span>And the Anonymous Nobody\u2026 <\/span><\/i>and the latest instalment of record label Mass Appeal\u2019s <\/span>Legend Has It\u2026<\/span><\/i> series, which has seen the release of new albums from celebrated rap veterans like Slick Rick, Mobb Deep, and Ghostface Killah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Cabin in the Sky<\/span><\/i>, n<\/span>amed after a 1943 film musical Posdnuos came across while watching TV<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>contains several songs Trugoy recorded before his passing. While not physically present, Posdnuos says his fellow MC and creative foil was still a crucial force throughout the creation of the album.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n