A new documentary on Kanye West unveiling some singular moments of his youth was presented in preview Sunday at the Sundance festival, a few days after the rapper asked Netflix for the right to look at the final version of the film.
The first part of
Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy
,” airing at Sundance, which is being held online due to the pandemic, focuses on Kanye West's early frustrations as he attempted to transition from fledgling producer to rapper.
The film shows West awkwardly removing his braces, fretting about being pushed aside for "
growing up in the suburbs
," and sharing tender moments with his now-missing mother Donda.
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In an Instagram post on Friday, West, also known as Ye, wrote that he “
needs to get the final cut and right to approve this documentary before it hits Netflix
,” where it will premiere on February 16.
“
Open the editing room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image
,” he wrote, in a post that was liked 1.5 million times.
Asked by AFP, Netflix did not comment on the rapper's request.
The film's opening scene shows West in 2020 asking for contracts for the documentary over the phone, suggesting he may have reconsidered his approval later.
320 hours of footage
The project was started by filmmaker Clarence "
Coodie
" Simmons, who began following his friend West, camera in hand, to Chicago in 2001, curious to see how far the ambitious young rap producer could go.
Simmons has thus accumulated in twenty years nearly 320 hours of images.
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In a videoconference intervention after the premiere, Simmons assured that West “
left us to do our job
”, but that he also had to reassure the musician about the result.
"
When I met Kanye, I said to him,
'you have to trust me brother, like you've trusted me all these years, with all these footage, to film you'".
Over four and a half hours spread over three episodes, J
een-Yuhs
(pronounced "
genius
") covers West's rise to international superstardom, his mental health struggles, his support for Donald Trump and his bid for president. the United States.
"A little narcissistic"
The first part recounts Simmons' original meeting with the singer, at a party in Chicago in 1998, and his decision to document West's career when the latter, then a producer, took a decisive part in
Jay-Z's
Izzo (HOVA)
, three years later.
West moves to New York in a bid to get signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella label, but struggles to convince bosses that a producer who doesn't have the "
hardcore
" background of many American rappers. era can sell records.
"
Are you going to blame me because I never killed anyone?"
he asks a music journalist as he drives through New York City at night.
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In one scene, West arrives unannounced at the label's offices, where he raps
All Falls Down
to bewildered employees at their desks, and a receptionist mistakes his name for "
Cayenne
."
Although brimming with the self-confidence that characterizes him, the young West considers the filming of the documentary “
a bit narcissistic
”.
Simmons and co-director Chike Ozah made several movies together before
jeen-yuhs
, while keeping West's footage ready to go.
"
We got an offer in 2006 to do it, but Kanye wasn't ready
," Simmons said.
"
He didn't want the world to see what he went through
."