It’s impossible to have a truly unbiased cultural conversation about Kanye West. His name always evokes emotion, whether you’re inspired by his undeniable musical genius or exhausted by the chaos he stokes with his highly visible platform. A lot of people—especially women—feel that sense of exasperation these days, especially after his latest media storm, in which he borderline-harassed his estranged wife and her boyfriend on Instagram. The directors of Netflix’s new documentary, Jeen-yuhs, Coodie and Chike, didn’t want to sway the public in any direction. Their goal was simply to depict West’s journey to where he is now, whether or not we like the final product.
The three-part film has been in the making for the last 20 years. Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah are two of West’s longtime collaborators and confidantes, and they’ve captured extensive archive footage of the rapper. The pair made their mark back in 2004 with their directorial debut collaboration, West’s “Through the Wire” music video, and went on to become two of the music industry’s most in-demand directors, helming visuals during Christina Aguilera’s Back to Basics era and working with Erykah Badu.
But their life’s work may just be Jeen-Yuhs, which will surely be classified as an education in Kanye West the musician—not the tabloid figure or social media eccentric or fashion influencer or even Mr. Kardashian. (Ye’s estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, barely appears in the trilogy, which speaks to the directors’ intent behind the film.) Jeen-yuhs is a story about Kanye West the hip-hop titan and his brazen determination to be the best rapper of all time.
“I kept running into this talented, charismatic kid who wanted to be in front of the camera,” Coodie says, reminiscing about when he first met West, “and I just knew at that moment that he was going to win Grammys. There was going to be a really great ending to this documentary. I just knew it. And I couldn’t believe, as we were moving around in New York, that people didn’t see what I saw [in him] after he had the accident.”
The “accident” is stuff of hip-hop legend and formative to who Kanye West eventually became. Mere weeks after he was supposed to finalize promotion for his debut album, The College Dropout, West was involved in a life-threatening car accident that fractured his jaw and required intensive surgery and a lengthy recovery process. The documentary gives a rare look at West in the aftermath of the accident, and also showcases his determination to heal so that he could release what he knew would be a culture-shifting debut album.
Cut in between moments of West bartering with his surgeon for faster healing options are clips of him going door-to-door at the Roc-a-fella offices, essentially pleading for people to listen to his music. These aren’t overlooked B-sides, either; we’re talking about now-classics like “All Falls Down” and “Gold Digger.” Witnessing West struggle to get recognition for what are now considered some of the most defining songs of our time, it’s hard not to relate. What creative person, no matter the medium, hasn’t felt undermined by the powers that be when they know their story is worth telling?
“When I heard him rap, I felt like his raps were so powerful. I thought, Man, this dude could be like the next Martin Luther King or Malcolm X in his own way through his lyrics,” Chike says. “After Kanye got into the accident, I got a phone call [from Coodie]. He was like, ‘Man, I had this idea for a music video.’ We didn’t have any money, mind you. But the whole reason [I was working at] MTV was because of my passion for music videos, so I just said, ‘Man, let’s go.’ It wasn’t even an option. I already knew that this was the calling.”
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While the documentary is broken into three parts, it also could be thematically divided into two: Before Donda and After. The directors have a slew of precious footage showcasing the depths of the mother-son bond between West and his late mother, Donda West, who died after complications from cosmetic surgery in 2007. It’s clear that, before winning umpteen Grammys, starting a family, and exploring countless other creative ventures, everything West did was for his mother. Coodie and Chike say after her death, they—along with the rest of the world—saw a shift within West, not just as a performer but also as their friend.
“We became brothers throughout this whole journey. I was with him every day, we were rooting each other on, telling each other our dreams,” Coodie says. “But when his mom passed … for six years, I didn’t see Kanye but twice, and it’d be in passing—a quick ‘How you doing? Okay, keep it moving.’ This was when he was with Amber Rose. But when Common called me to document AAHH! Fest [in Chicago] and Kanye was the surprise guest, I just knew that there was a reason I had to do that.” The two ended up reconnecting. “Kanye flew me and Chike to Calabasas and basically was like, ‘Man, I’m so misunderstood. I need ya’ll to be my voice.’ And that’s how we began putting together this documentary and naming it Jeen-yuhs.”
Coodie and Chike’s documentary doesn’t glaze over West’s less-than-stellar PR moments. The George W. Bush comments, ambushing Taylor Swift at the VMAs, the friendship with Donald Trump, the botched presidential run, his perceived breakdown following Kim Kardashian’s Paris robbery—it’s all in there.
“His team always had all these other agendas for him and things that they wanted him to do. When I saw him walk off the stage at the Saint Pablo [tour] … the feeling that I had when I got the call after his car accident, it was the same feeling I had when I saw him walk off,” Coodie says. “I was extremely worried. And at that moment, I thought, I need to be close to Kanye again. And then God made that happen.”
If Jeen-yuhs proves anything, it’s that Kanye has always been Kanye. He’s always believed he was destined for fame and notoriety, and he’s always believed he is the best. He’s always communicated in a frantic, all-caps sort of energy, and, quite frankly, he’s always felt misunderstood—by his peers, by the industry, and by the world. Fame and constant global attention have only amplified this.
Of course, that doesn’t excuse the controversies, but it’s clearer than ever how the loss of his mother shaped his career trajectory. Without the guiding light that was Donda, he entered a descent into a creative oblivion of sorts. Watching West lose someone important to him and behaving erratically as a result, you’re struck by the feeling that you’ve just seen the same thing play out on Instagram, where West has been posting daily, aching for the mending of his family.
Coodie and Chike aren’t here to tell anyone what to think. They say their core goal is to inspire a new generation of artists. “The ultimate message is that everybody has a genius, and everybody can unlock it. It takes a reliance on faith, on a higher power, higher energy for you to just overcome the fear and embark on your passion,” Chike says. “We’re using Kanye and Coodie as a blueprint of two people embarking on this journey and having no fear because of their belief. For anybody years from now who might be struggling because they don’t know what they wanna do in life, or they’re scared to do it, you can watch this and get inspiration. Or if you’re already in the middle of that journey, watch this and get affirmation. It’s about going from inspiration to aspiration—that’s the impact that we wanted this film to make.”
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Netflix’s Jeen-yuhs Suggests the Old Kanye and the New Kanye Aren’t That Different After All
Source: Filipino Journal Articles
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