A Netflix Original documentary titled Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, often known as Jeen-yuhs, follows the life of rapper, singer, and composer Kanye West. The first of the documentary's three parts was made available on 16th February 2022, and the other two will follow in quick succession.
You would assume Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy would be all about hero worship, forcing spectators to prostrate themselves before the great altar of Ye given its title, which is pronounced gen-ius, and subject matter.
The first of this 280-minute Netflix documentary's three parts had its online debut at the Sundance Film Festival, and there is undoubtedly a good bit of that throughout the entire work. However, there is also a reasonably clear and appealing depiction of the artist as a young Yeezy striving to become a successful rap sensation that lasts for at least half of the film's running period. The fact that it wasn't easy for him and that he almost didn't succeed at all speaks more to his tenacity and unflappable ego than it does to his genius, which is inherent from the start.
What is Jeen-Yuhs about?
Jeen-yuhs, directed by Chike Ozah and longtime Kanye West observer Clarence "Coodie" Simmons, who has been documenting the rapper intermittently for the past 20 years, provides a firsthand account of what it takes to succeed in the cutthroat environment of the hip-hop industry and the pressure it places on those at the top to remain relevant.
If this were a parable from the Bible, it would be about a talented young man whose desire for success was so great that it eventually drove him crazy. This madness manifested itself in the form of numerous onstage incursions at the Grammy Awards, online and televised rants, and a bid for the presidency of the United States in 2020.
This is not meant to belittle Kanye's real mental health problems, which Simmons, who narrates his own footage as both a loving friend and admirer, doesn't hold back from discussing. However, when you see how hard West worked to establish himself as a legitimate rapper in his early years, how many doors were slammed in his face, and how he overcame a car accident that left his jaw broken in three places to finish his stellar debut album, The College Dropout, you realize that all of this can have an impact on your soul.
The movie, which is broken up into three 90-minute acts with the modest titles VISION, PURPOSE, and AWAKENING, closely resembles Yeezy's career in that it starts out impressive, then almost exhilarating, before becoming tiresome and a little bit insufferable in its closing moments. The scenes in which Simmons had unrestricted access to West and followed the budding rap producer from Chicago to New York as he developed into a serious player in the game are without a doubt the best; these are scenes that take place between 2001 and 2004.
The problem is that no one else believes in him except Kanye and his wise, devoted mother, Donda, whose appearance in the film adds a breath of warmth and humor. One of his friends tells him, "You're brilliant, but Jay-Z is a genius." Another criticism we frequently hear is that "He really doesn't fit with the street image," particularly from the staff at Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella records label, where Kanye is eager to sign.
What happens in Vision, Purpose and Awakening?
In all of Jeen-yuhs, there may not be a more revealing scene than the one in "Vision," in which Simmons follows West, who was 21 at the time, as he makes plans to break into the Roc-A-Fella headquarters in Manhattan and perform solo artist demos in various offices. The record company executives are utterly uninterested in his music as a result of the pathetically unsuccessful stunt, and Kanye is left with no choice but to return his CD and leave in defeat. The scene is telling because it demonstrates how he would go to any lengths to be heard and how humiliation didn't even belong in his rhyme dictionary.
He eventually succeeded in getting signed by forcing his way through the front, back, and side doors of Roc-A-Fella not as a producer but rather as an actual MC. In the two years that followed, the record company took its time releasing Kanye's debut album, forcing him to pull off even riskier stunts, like recording with his mouth in shambles following the car accident and self-financing his first music video (Through the Wire, directed by Simmons and Ozah). Roc-A-Fella finally released The College Dropout in 2004, to widespread acclaim (four times Platinum, Grammy for Best Rap Album), Ye's reputation will be cemented by the end of "Purpose."
It can be challenging to watch Simmons, who genuinely cares about his former Chi-town friend, suddenly transform from rap phenomenon to music-and-fashion mogul bloated on drugs in the final act, "Awakening." The final episode, which covers the years from 2005 to the present, uses montage sequences to fill in all the blanks as it follows Kanye's various ups and downs, making it less interesting than the years when Simmons got firsthand footage.
What is the critical review of Jeen-yuhs?
A treasure trove of footage documenting superstar Kanye West's rise to fame was mishandled by a documentarian who holds everything too close to his chest in "Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy," which is an extraordinary failure in the history of documentary filmmaking. It's really quite straightforward for West fans: the epic docuseries, which will begin airing on Netflix once a week, is almost five hours long and divided into three feature-length acts. There is barely any mention of the album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It's just not important to what "Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy" is actually about, because the docuseries' main cameraman wasn't present when that landmark album was made.
"Jeen-Yuhs" is revelatory in showing how anti-insightful a documentary can still be in the absence of narrative restraint, even though its plot spans almost two decades. One of the through-lines of the edit, the friendship between Coodie and West, is undervalued by its hollow strategy. Young West experiences the power of being filmed for the first time in the opening scene thanks to Coodie. A drunk, Grammy-nominated West keeps mistaking Coodie for his collaborator Chike while Coodie interviews him on camera. This incredible moment shows how friendships change over time and many awards and songs later. However, the story doesn't say much about their unique friendship, preferring to demonstrate that Coodie always shows up when needed and that West's biggest mistake is never inviting Coodie along. Despite everything that Coodie's close-up camera captures, West is still evasive, especially regarding what Coodie even means to him.
Even though "Jeen-Yuhs" is unique in what makes it such a letdown, it's not often that you can criticize a documentary specifically because it wasn't produced by someone else. "Jeen-Yuhs” willfully violates unspoken conventions of documentary filmmaking and how to portray someone else's story, and does so only to benefit its producers. Kanye West's actual, monumental relevancy and the missed chance for Coodie's hard-won footage to astound viewers by speaking for itself only serve to highlight the irrelevant portions of "Jeen-Yuhs."
FAQs
Q. What is Kanys’s standpoint about Jeen-yuhs?
A. Kanye West made it known in January that he was not pleased with the movie's current release, writing on Instagram, "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.”
Q. How long is the movie?
A. With 267 hours of previously unseen production-related footage of West, the three-part movie has a running time of almost five hours.
Q. Did Kim Kardashian make a cameo in Jeen-yuhs?
A. The Kardashians appear briefly in jeen-yuhs, but they are not the main focus of the program. Ye's professional accomplishments are the main focus, not his romantic past. Although they didn't speak in the documentary series, the famous sisters were visible in the video from Ye's debut fashion show.
Q. Why was “Jeen-yuhs” chosen as the title?
A. The 2022 Kanye documentary's title, jeen-yuhs, simply translates as "genius." Kanye, a well-known music producer and renowned rapper, has long referred to himself as a genius, whether that be in relation to his music, fashion, or regular thoughts and schemes.
