Obviously, something saddens Kanye West in Jeen Yuhs, the three-part documentary by Clarence “Coodie” Simmons, the first part of which premiered on Sunday January 23 at the Sundance American Independent Film Festival (while Kanye West attended the Kenzo fashion show in Paris).
“I will say it one last time nicely: I must have the final edit (i.e. a right to look at the final editing Ed) and approve this doc before it comes out on Netflix“, wrote Kanye West in a post on Instagram Friday, January 21. “Open the editing room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image“, added the rapper in this post “liked” 1.5 million times. But has Kanye West only viewed it? In fact, he was not asked for his opinion and it is likely that he didn’t even see it, the directors admitted in an interview published Friday on Indiewire.
The first installment of this documentary, which shows the rise of Kanye West up close over twenty years, should in principle land on Netflix on February 16, with the other two parts being broadcast on the platform the following two weeks.
Jeen-Yuhs, a Kanye Trilogy, 4.5 hours in total, spread over three episodes, is directed by Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah. Clarence Simmons, originally from Chicago like Kanye West, started following in 2001, camera in hand, the ambitious young rap producer whom he had met at a party in 1998. West had made a strong impression on him: he had sensed in him from the start a future star. Simmons has thus accumulated in twenty years nearly 320 hours of unpublished images.
In an interview at variety, the directors indicated that Kanye West did not have the “final cut” on the documentary. “I told him, boy you gotta trust me“, says Coodie.”I had to tell this story. It’s not about making Kanye West likeable or not. Pictures don’t lie. What makes this movie special is that it’s not definitive; it is his journey through my vision.“
Initially, the director’s idea was to go all the way to the Grammys, because he was convinced that the rapper would get at least one. But when it was done in 2004 with the album The College Dropout (Kanye West has won 22 Grammys in total to date), the director kept following him. However, as early as 2006, he had been approached to release a documentary, “but Kanye wasn’t ready“, explained Clarence Simmons in a videoconference intervention Sunday at Sundance.He didn’t want the world to see what he’s been through“.
Because if it covers West’s irresistible rise to international superstardom up to his controversial support for Donald Trump and his bid for the presidency of the United States, the documentary also shows his missteps, erratic driving and mental health issues.