Kanye West’s documentary, jeen-yhus: A Kanye West trilogy, premiered on Netflix on February 16th, 2022, and fans are raving over West’s life.
This is according to a report filed by UK newspaper, The Sun.
The paper reports that the film is directed by Clarence “Coodie” Simmons, who acts as our proxy in the story, narrating long chunks in his calming drawl. A comedian and public-access TV host who made a name for himself documenting Chicago’s ’90s hip-hop scene, Coodie first noticed Kanye as a 21-year-old local producer. Intrigued by this fidgety upstart’s ambition to be a beatmaker and a rapper, Coodie decides to follow him around for a while, seeing the possibility for a Hoop Dreams-style documentary about making it against all odds.
According to globally acclaimed website Pitchfork, the story that Coodie wants to tell us is about how he got more than he bargained for—how Kanye not only succeeded at his goal, but kept on succeeding, beyond what anyone could have considered possible. Coodie positions himself as someone who understands his subject, having witnessed what drives him in his most vulnerable moments.
A Twitter user wrote: “You don’t need to be a fan, but you’ll be inspired to get up & live your life. Everything he said since 1998, he done did it man.”
Another tweeted: “This will resonate with any artist trying to make it — especially out of Chicago.”
After its release on Netflix, critics have begun to release their reviews on the Kanye West documentary.
One The Guardian reviewer wrote: “West has charged through the rest of his career, evidently fueled by an unshakeable conviction that he is always right and that refusing to listen is an untrammeled virtue.
“You can see how the events depicted in Jeen-Yuhs might have led him to those beliefs.”
Via Twitter, fans and viewers are noting how emotional they are over Kanye’s late mother Donda appearing in the documentary.
One user wrote: “Kanye’s relationship with Donda making me emotional while watching this documentary, mothers are so precious man. #JeenYuhs”
Another tweeted: “seeing Donda and Kanye’s relationship is so beautiful and heartbreaking. She was his everything #JeenYuhs”
The documentary however comes at a daunting time for Ye as he has been the centre of media attention following his largely publicized breakup with his wife, Kim Kardashian.