Snoop Dogg Mourns Death Of Cousin Famous For Creating ‘Doggystyle’ Cover Art
Snoop Dogg is grieving the loss of his cousin, artist, Darryl “Joe Cool” Daniel. On Monday (July 22), the West Coast legend took to Instagram, sharing 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.
Snoop’s little cousin, rapper Daz Dillinger, also uploaded a post in memory of Joe Cool. He posted a picture featuring himself, Cool, and Snoop flicking it up in the 90’s. “REST N PEACE DARYL JOE COOL DANIEL [explosion emoji, 100 emoji] MY BIGG CUZZN THIS REALLY HURTS WE GREW UP TOGETHER U WAS THERE FROM DAY ONE IM GONE REALLY REALLY MISS U BIGG CUZ,” the caption reads. A cause of death for the iconic artist hasn’t been revealed.
Joe Cool struck it big after he illustrated the cover for Snoop Dogg’s debut album, Doggystyle. During an interview with HipHopDX, Cool spoke about the opportunity to draw the legendary artwork. The Long Beach native detailed that he had just gotten released from jail when Snoop called him with the life-changing opportunity.
“Snoop came to me and he told me, ‘I want you to draw my cover, man,'” Cool recalled. “I said, ‘You serious?’ He said, ‘Yeah. We gonna pay you, gonna give you some money.'”
“He gave me the idea. He said, ‘Well, Dr. Dre really wants a picture of me on top of a doghouse, reaching over, feeling on a dog’s a** or something. But I want you to draw it, though. We’ll run it by Dre.’ Dre said, ‘Alright. Go ahead.'”
As he continued, Darryl explained how he captured Snoop Dogg’s character on top of the doghouse reaching for the other dog’s tail. Cool recalled having his then-girlfriend pose on the couch as inspiration. However, as he created art, he never thought it would become a cultural fixture.
“I didn’t think it would be iconic, man,” he said. “And then when it sold as many as it sold and I seen my sh*t up there, it just gave me like, ‘Damn. I can’t believe it. My artwork is out there.'”
“[Snoop] 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.”
From there, Darryl paved his own path forward, drawing Snoop’s Last Meal cover art and bringing to life The Game’s 1992 album. Daryl would go on to work with Supreme and Adidas, and even write and draw his own children’s book, Where’s the Cheese?
VIBE sends our deepest condolences to Snoop Dogg, Daz Dillinger, their family, and all those affected by this loss.
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