Kanye West, now legally known as Ye, is at the center of the new Netflix documentary jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy. The three-part documentary will premiere on Feb. 16, giving Netflix subscribers a deeper look into Ye's history than ever seen before. Ahead of the premiere, the streamer has released a new official trailer teasing the footage that's to come, which takes us back to the start of Ye's rise in hip-hop that began over two decades ago. You can watch the trailer below.
The official synopsis for jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy reads: "Twenty-one years ago, Clarence 'Coodie' Simmons met Kanye West and saw something so special that he moved from Chicago to New York City to document Ye's journey to become the next great rapper. Neither of them had any idea where just how far that journey would take them."
Netflix describes jeen-yuhs as a landmark documentary event presented in three acts from Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, and an "intimate and revealing portrait of Kanye West’s experience, showcasing both his formative days trying to break through and his life today as a global brand and artist." It held its world premiere virtually at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2022. On Feb. 10, Iconic Events Releasing and TIME Studios will debut Act 1 (Vision) in theaters nationwide for a one-day engagement, giving Ye fans an exclusive opportunity to see part of this groundbreaking project before it premieres in a three-week event on Netflix on February 16th.
Coodie & Chike directed jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy. It is written by Coodie immons and J. Ivy with cinematography by Simmons and Danny "DNA" Sorge. Simmons and Ozah produced with Leah Nataha Thomas. Executive producers are Ian Orefice, Rebecca Teitel, Alexa Conway, Mike Beck, Kevin Thomson, Connor Schell, Angus Wall, Free Maiden, Gee Roberson, and Nick Tran. Ross Martin, Peter Pham, Kern Schireson, and Lynne Benioff co-executive produced.
Ye Got a Little Too Involved with jeen-yuhs, Filmmakers Say
The hip-hop mogul had made it clear before the documentary was released that he wanted creative control over the final cut. He said as much with a public post on Instagram, noting, "I’m going to say this kindly for the last time. I must get final edit and approval on this doc before it releases on Netflix. Open the edit room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image. Thank you in advance."
"When it came down to making it, I had to let him know to make this film authentic, he had to step back," co-director Simmons said of Ye's involvement, per The Hollywood Reporter. "I had to take control of this narrative that God created — we didn’t create this. And he said he trusted I would do a good job on it... We can’t go around anything that happens in life. Things happen, and we were filming it. We have to be authentic to what happened."
jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy will premiere on Netflix on Feb. 16, 2022.