On Monday (July 22), hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg took to Instagram to share with his followers the loss of his cousin Darryl “Joe Cool” Daniel. Daniel is best known for his Doggystyle album cover illustration, which was created in 1993.
Snoop shared a clip of him chilling with his cousin as he rapped his 2017 track, “Promise You This.” Joe Cool can be seen recording the video, showing off his custom-made shirt and detailing how he lost a bet on an Oakland Raiders game. “R. I. P. [prayer hands emoji, crying emoji] my big cuzn joe cool,” Snoop captioned the post.
Also posting a throwback of Daniel was Snoop’s longtime collaborator and cousin, rapper-producer Daz Dillinger.
“He gave me that opportunity. Man I love him for it.”
Thirty years ago, Daniel struck gold with the game-changing cover art for Doggystyle, Snoop’s debut album. The album art is busy and colorful in the style of a comic book. But the salacious elements are what had viewers clutching their pearls in 1993. It pictures a dog wearing a hat, a long checkered coat, and a gold chain straddling the top of a red and yellow dog house. The dog is reaching forward toward’s a female dog’s hindparts.
In the background, behind a brick wall, a human dogcatcher with a large net lurks, observing the dogs. On top of the brick wall are three dogs variously quoting George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog”: “Why must I feel like dat?”, “Why must I chase da cat?” and, “Nuttin’ but da dogg in me!!”.
The shock value of adult-ifying cartoon imagery was attention grabbing in 1993, but it has since become a staple in the world of hip-hop album art.
In the early 90s, Daniel was drug addicted and previously incarcerated, but when encouraged by Snoop to get clean, the rapper commissioned him to draw the Doggystyle cover.
“I didn’t think it would be iconic, man,” Daniel told HipHopDX in 2013. “And then when it sold as many as it sold, and I seen my shit up there, it just gave me…like damn. I can’t believe it. My artwork is out there, ’cause Snoop let it come. He gave me the opportunity, man. He got me a little bit of 15 minutes of fame up in the world. It’s been 20 years, man. He gave me that opportunity. Man I love him for it.”
In addition to designing the artwork for Snoop Dogg’s seminal debut, Daniel’s distinctive illustrations also graced the covers of Snoop’s Tha Last Meal and The Game‘s 1992 albums.
The Long Beach native also created original designs for adidas, Supreme and 7-11, released a children’s book called Where’s the Cheese? and involved himself in comedy, acting and motivational speeches.