It is amazing that Kanye has not been all over Netflix and other streaming platforms like he was everywhere else in the world. For anybody who’s just woken up from a 20-year coma, there’s probably no bigger rap star on earth right now (let alone pop star) than Kanye West – with 22 Grammy Awards, six albums within Rolling Stone’s esteemed ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time’, regular appearances on mega-reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians, one album with a rare perfect-10 score on Pitchfork, heavy involvement in fashion (plus one of the most popular shoes globally; Yeezies), millions upon millions given to charity and a $1.8 billion net worth, therefore at this point even a Netflix documentary will begin to sound somewhat superfluous.
But Kanye (or Ye) is more than simply being an often-brilliant musician or having numerous business interests. The whole world knows Ye because of his many offensive statements and actions which have made him someone people love to hate; however, as Kanye himself once put it, ‘Hate and love are very similar emotions. The opposite of love is [that] you don’t care’—and people definitely cared.
Interrupting Taylor Swift’s award speech, telling the world that George Bush doesn’t care about Black people during a televised charity event causing him to become an advocate for Donald Trump, saying that slaves chose slavery but above all marrying Kim Kardashian and divorcing her later on urinating on his Grammy award winning statue and the famous Instagram page owned by Kanye West – these are some of Ye’s shenanigans that have kept him around longer than he had any right to be.
Now Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy on Netflix offers viewers an appropriately colossal documentary about this bizarre giant of an artiste. Feb. 16 saw release of part one hour thirty minutes long installment out of three parts documenting what is a surprisingly sincere, touching and almost voyeuristic insight into the early days of Kanye West’s music. Jeen-yuhs was directed by Coodie & Chike aka Clarence Simmons Jr. and Chike Ozah, who first recorded Ye in 1998 but really started following him around with cameras from 2002 when they had their first chance to work on his debut video which was for ‘Through the Wire’.
Coodie & Chike have been filming Ye for almost twenty years, and the first part of Jeen-yuhs covers the very beginning of Kanye West’s producing career. With some incredibly intimate and seemingly never-ending footage, they chronicle his attempt to rise above all the musicians he worked with in order to make himself a household name. “America, you’ll have to see me. You got to get used to this face”, says Ye before an early MTV interview, hence Jeen-yuhs is interested in how that happened.
West always wanted to rap over his own beats but nobody believed that producer-rapper thing in music so they would string him along with a dangling carrot of record deal while he continued producing music for bigger artists. It is truly strange and even fun giving rappers and studio executives no one remembers anymore rolling their eyes at Ye or shrugging him off; looking back on it is perhaps the most important aspect through which Jeen-yuhs can be approached as an exhilaratingly underdogish display of self-placing inside industry even when others look down upon you.
As it is the same with all most of those mentioned in ‘Through The Wire’ music video, when he watches the documentary now, Kanye believes he must have been possessed by a demon at that time. In Jay-Z’s hip hop music label for example, Roc-A-Fella Records, West just walks around from room to room looking for women and putting his CD on their CDs; then later he raps along with the song All Falls Down. However, their half-smiles and mutual snickering speak through condescension until Kanye packs up his CD and leaves the offices downcast and dejected. It is beyond wickedly funny looking back now knowing this song has 58 million views on YouTube.
Jeen-yuhs’ cameras often shot over Ye’s shoulder in scenes like this one, recording everything that transpired while appropriately capturing how others reacted as West made a start towards stardom. This documentary shows that Kanye is always quick to speak out his mind when it comes to his philosophies and opinions, which are mostly heard humorously through Kanye’s braces (more about that later). His persona remains buoyantly self-confident without any inhibitions that might hold him back; this may be slightly arrogant or even narcissistic but this is well known to those who watch him perform.
“Make that documentary about me,” says Kanye through his orthodontic retainers in 2002 “It’s really kinda narcissistic.” With such beautiful scenes as these one can maybe ask mother if she thinks I am too mean? She answers “Stay grounded and yet be able to fly at the same time.” That is what I think they are saying when they say the giant looks into the mirror and sees nothing. To everybody else though, they see this giant.” Donda West being featured throughout Jeen-yuhs ranks high as among other highlights of the film. How close he was to her mother before she passed away, how honest she was being supportive to him, and her wisdom and love he adores come across very well in all the sometimes overdone Kanye.
Nevermind. Coodie & Chike had unrestricted access to virtually everything about West’s life including his mother as well as studio time. They have done a really good job here; the pieces could be arbitrary moments, but put together they are one whole story that any viewer would want to learn more of. Just how many hours of voyeuristic archival footage do these men use in this film? Having been inspired by the monumental documentary Hoop Dreams which managed to pool over 250 hours of footage for five years into one three-hour masterpiece, these directors henceforth patiently took 30 years quietly waiting for their own piece (and ultimately sold it up for $30 million Netflix). In Coodie’s hushed tone of voice it is shown by whose narration that this was all put together from disjointed parts with an obviously unique viewpoint, albeit he sees himself in some sort of a character. This makes sense given that Kanye’s artistic career is inseparable from Coodie’s career itself as an artist.
Seamlessly combining poignant moments, humbling lows, surprising highs and unbridled intimacy, the course takes one through an emotional rollercoaster. A mysterious score from Live Footage and CTZN Chance that is full of emotions makes Jeen-yuhs feel like a personal epic by underscoring something real behind what might look simple in appearance. Even though the narration is both direct and matter-of-fact towards this story that seems to be refreshed despite being heard by everyone, it eventually guides the reader into its own unique world. This flick is not some kind of narcissistic self-promotion thing for Kanye because he trusts entirely in Coodie & Chike that lets people say this is another “portrait of the artist as a young man” which was a James Joyce novel.
But still there’s some showiness here. Ye claims to have an “Ethiopian-French name, it means ‘the only one,’” even if he puts on airs showing this isn’t true. On my mom’s porch step into her house Kanye says “Mom you get a little bit of credit but mostly I raised myself,” laughter followed by silence implying she recognizes he means that statement less as a joke than reality. However, while not role models in any sense, Kanye West is more of an example of everything the iGeneration has become with iPhones and iPads; his lifestyle simply exemplifies it all: each person just trying to stand out on their own at any cost possible. But without such an all-consuming self-representation he wouldn’t be able to be so well-known now or even consider running for president sometimes.
If anything, Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy could have been better off if released at once. There are chances that during the week between Netflix installments 2 and 3 would dissipate whatever infectious momentum Coodie & Chike knocked themselves out creating throughout them. Perhaps most people need Kanye West in small doses, and perhaps it could be excessive for many to want to see more than ninety minutes. As the credits of part one roll though, one might find themselves resenting that next week is so far away. Jeen-yuhs might be an intimate and amazing success, but it is only beginning.
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