By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — For those interested in more about Kanye West than his current domestic troubles, Netflix has unveiled this week the full trailer of the Kanye West documentary “jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy.” It is a more complete presentation than the earlier one issued in January, and also gives a preview of all three parts of West’s epic journey.
“When I first put the camera on this up-and-coming producer back in ’98, I knew he was destined for greatness. The goal would be to see how long his dreams would take him. But I had no idea where life would take us next,” the film’s director and narrator Clarence “Coodie” SImmons” says in the new trailer. “It felt like the bigger Kanye got, the farther we grew apart. But there was more to Kanye’s story I needed to tell.”
The first part of the seven-hour documentary series examined West’s struggles trying to make it as a rapper in Chicago/
“It’s certainly fascinating to watch West be one of a scrum of people shuffling through a label-hosted birthday party for Jay-Z, waiting for his opportunity to shake the hand of the rapper for whom he produced ‘Izzo (H.O.V.A.).’ And it’s almost sad to see West be the ‘guy behind the guy,’ going from office to office in Def Jam performing ‘All Falls Down’ in a desperate effort to convince someone to sign him, or even advocate for him, knowing what we now know about his presence in modern music,” Todd Gilchrist wrote in his review.
The West documentary is directed by Coodie & Chike and comes from Time Studios and Creative Control. It is described as an intimate and revealing portrait of West’s experiences dating back to his formative days trying to break into the business as a rapper, brand and artist, and includes never-before-seen footage of his challenges and triumphs across music and fashion.
Following its debut of “Act 1: (Vision)” at the virtual Sundance Film Festival, “jeen-yuhs” is being released theatrically by Iconic Events Thursday. It debuts on Netflix across three weeks beginning Feb. 16. Simmons also wrote “jeen-yuhs” with J. Ivy and produced alongside Chike Ozah and Leah Natasha Thomas.
