In the sneak peek of Jeen-Yuhs, a young Kanye is seen impressively rapping the lyrics to his song “Two Words” alongside Mos Def. The track is from West’s 2004 debut album, The College Dropout, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The trailer was released as part of Netflix’s Tudum fan event on Saturday.
Coodie & Chike’s Creative Control company will produce the West docuseries with TIME Studios, the Emmy-winning film and TV arm of TIME, which produced the 2020 documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble about the late Civil Rights hero and Georgia Congressman and the 2018 Aretha Franklin concert film Amazing Grace.
Another source told Billboard that Simmons has been filming West since the 1990s in Chicago, and their relationship will serve as the backbone of the documentary series, which will tell the story of the rapper and producer’s rise to success and fame’s impact on him as well hip-hop’s impact on popular culture and the world’s evolving relationship with celebrity.
Using never-before-seen footage and home videos, the second source says the series will also deal with the death of West’s mother, Donda West, and the impact it had on the rapper; his personal evolution in recent years; his successful move into fashion design and his unsuccessful run for President in 2020. It’s unclear, however, whether the series will also chronicle West’s 2021 divorce from Kim Kardashian.
While West is not creatively involved in the production, the second source says he essentially has given his support by allowing himself to be filmed by Coodie & Chike for 21 years.
Watch the trailer for Netflix’s Jeen-Yuhs below.
