Daily Operation

The cover of Daily Operation was shot by Matt Gunther, then a young New York photographer, with art direction by Marc Cozza. The crew rented an old mansion on Madison Avenue because they needed a big space. The shoot was booked from 9am to 6pm, but Guru, DJ Premier and an entourage of about twenty arrived at six or seven in the evening. "We slept during the day while waiting for them," Gunther said. He added that the duo "were professionals, no matter how blitzed they were."

The concept went through several drafts. Guru first wanted a mafioso theme, then a Last Supper scene that would include Group Home and Jeru the Damaja, while the label suggested a Renaissance look. The result blends all three into a tough-guy still life. A portrait of Malcolm X hangs at the top. In the foreground sit a briefcase spilling bundled cash, a globe, a wolf's head, a Remington Rand typewriter, a skull, a closed turntable case and a paperback of Elijah Muhammad's Message to the Black Man in America. Guru glares at the lens in a bomber jacket and Premier holds a cigar.

The designer Bill McMullen said the image "represents exactly the life of Premier and Guru." It has since come to stand for the bond between the two men, which frayed before Guru's death in 2010. The album was released on 5 May 1992.