jeen-yuhs: the Kanye West trilogy | From “old Kanye” to today

Every time Kanye West says something, shall we say, questionable, some of his fans say they miss the “old Kanye”, the one from his debut in the 2000s. Two-thirds of the documentary series jeen-yuhs bring us right back to that time, while the last part shows the artist teetering on the line of genius and madness. Presentation of the main themes and characters of this four and a half hour work.

Pascal LeBlanc
The Press

Coodie Simmons

Kanye West is obviously the main subject of jeen-yuhs, but it’s also the story of Coodie Simmons, who co-directed the documentary with Chike Ozah. In the mid-1990s, Coodie hosted the show Channel Zero. On the occasion of Jermaine Dupri’s birthday party in 1998, he drags his camera to interview some artists on site. Kanye is one of them. This first interview marks the beginning of an extraordinary friendship and professional relationship. At that time, the beats by Kanye are beginning to be sought after in Chicago hip-hop. However, his dream is to become a respected rapper. Coodie believes his friend can do it and, inspired by the film Hoop Dreams (1994), he offered to document his career. Kanye’s ambition, however, pushes him to move to New York to try to obtain a contract with a record company. A year passes, and then Coodie sees Jay-Z perform a new song – Izzo (HOVA) –, produced by Kanye, during the BET Awards. He then decides to join the latter to start filming his life.

Chicago

Even though the action moves quickly in the city that never sleeps, Chicago remains at the heart of the story. Kanye welcomes fellow Olskool Ice-Gre, Consequence, 88-Keys, J. Ivy and others to his apartment to record songs for his debut album. The idea is also that everyone is motivated to have the talent of Chicago artists recognized outside their city. We feel this spirit of community throughout the first part of the documentary. Kanye’s first steps in the music industry in a way represent the hopes of a city seeking validity in the world of hip-hop.

Roc-A-Fella

The five songs produced by Kanye on the album Blueprint, by Jay-Z, made him one of the main sound makers on the Roc-A-Fella Records label. He tries to persuade his leaders to launch his first solo album. However, Kanye has no credibility as a rapper in their eyes. In a scene where he visits the offices of Roc-A-Fella, he plays the song All Falls Down to employees on site… Their indifference is brutal. Despite the humiliation, he continues his efforts. In 2002, the Chicagoan was the subject of an episode of You Hear It First broadcast on MTV. This stint on the show dedicated to emerging artists finally convinces Roc-A-Fella to give him a contract. In the studio with Jay-Z, he starts rapping. Impressed, the renowned Brooklyn MC told him to record his verse immediately. The Bounceon the album The Blueprint 2, becomes his first major collaboration. Dame Dash, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella, then asked him to produce Champions and to rap on this piece bringing together other artists of the label. Kanye has the wind in his sails, but everything comes to an abrupt halt.

The accident

On October 23, 2002, while returning from a recording session in Los Angeles, the 25-year-old man fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a car. His jaw is fractured in three places. On his hospital bed, he elaborates the sequel, without ever thinking of giving up his dream. Rather, it records Through the Wire, while he still has a metal wire in his mouth from surgery. The overwhelmingly positive reactions from people who hear the song, including Pharrell Williams, inspire Kanye, Coodie and Chike for the music video. The amateur video style and sincerity of the lyrics captivate audiences and critics alike. Roc-A-Fella then releases the necessary funds for Kanye to complete his album.

The College Dropout

Kanye West’s debut album was finally released on February 10, 2004. The College Dropout is a huge success. The extract jesus walks – and its three videos – particularly stands out. In the running for the album of the year at the Grammy awards, it won the title of best rap album. Kanye’s acceptance speech is still quoted today. Coodie then announces to his friend that he is ready to start editing the documentary. The rapper replies that he is not ready to reveal who he really is and indicates that he now plays “a role” in front of the cameras. Some of his remarks, including the unforgettable “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people”, create controversy. His unwavering confidence is seen as arrogance.

Donda West

When we see Kanye chatting with his mother, Donda, we quickly understand where this enormous confidence comes from. A professor at Chicago State University, she has always supported her only son, who listens carefully to her advice. Kanye’s success seems to bring the two closer together. He even hired his mother full-time in 2004. She died suddenly following cosmetic surgery on November 10, 2007, at the age of 58. Rather than grieve, Kanye, who has just released his third album Graduation, submerges in work. His relationship with Coodie is no longer the same and for six years he stops filming him.

Mental Health

During this period, Kanye continues to record brilliant albums and chain controversies, including “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish”… Coody is back behind the camera during the event marking the release of The Life of Pablo and Yeezy’s New Collection, at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 11, 2016. However, he can’t speak to his friend to see how he’s doing. A few months later, while on tour, Kanye was admitted to UCLA Medical Center following a psychotic episode. Almost a year later, Kanye and Coodie are finally back together. The sequel takes us to China with Kid Cudi, to Wyoming on Kanye’s ranch, to Calabasas in his studio, to the Dominican Republic at the start of the pandemic… Through highly publicized moments, such as his support for Donald Trump, his gospel shows Sunday Service and his own election campaign in 2020, footage captured by Coody shows a vulnerable, workaholic man who can’t always articulate well what seems so clear in his mind. This honesty is amazing when you know how much Kanye wants to control his image.

Appreciation

The formula is quite different, but jeen-yuhs is somehow the Get Back (the Beatles documentary by Peter Jackson) by Kanye West. So many hours of recording (320 hours!) never before seen showing the rise of an artist who is so well known today is in itself exceptional. Even though Kanye demanded to approve the final version of the project, we are delighted that the work focuses only on his career and not on his love and family life, already highly publicized. This documentary, with superb editing, allows us to better understand the origins of an artist with undeniable genius, incapable of not remembering that he was the first to consider himself brilliant.

On Netflix February 16