It’s been a long time coming (over 21 years, in fact), but Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, a new documentary on Kanye West—or Ye, as he’s officially known now—will premiere in February 2022. Ahead of the release, Netflix released a short teaser trailer that gives a glimpse of what’s to come: A deep dive into the history and the meteoric rise of Kanye West. As the name implies, Jeen-Yuhs is actually a three-part documentary series, and in an unusual move for Netflix, the first part will debut in theaters before appearing on the streaming platform a few days later, Rolling Stone reports.
The first installment of Jeen-Yuhs will premiere on the big screen on Feb. 10 (it was originally slated to debut at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 23, but that was torpedoed after the festival moved to a virtual-only platform due to rising COVID-19 cases). After that, it’ll be available to stream on Netflix on Feb. 16.
The docuseries is directed by Coodie and Chike, who’ve worked with West for decades and produced several of his music videos. Over the years, they’ve amassed a large amount of behind-the-scenes footage, much of it never released publicly, and that footage will form an integral part of Jeen-Yuhs. The teaser gives a short glimpse at what that’ll look like: Archival footage of a young West in the studio, performing onstage, and collaborating with other artists, including fellow Chicago-based hip hop artist Rhymefest.
Rhymefest and West worked closely together for years, including co-writing the song “Jesus Walks,” which won a Grammy in 2005. The teaser video highlights some past tension between the duo (and the size of West’s ego): In an archival clip, they’re shown arguing about whether or not West is a “genius.”
“Who are you to call yourself a genius?” Rhymefest asks at one point.
As it chronicles West from his early days in Chicago through his rise to fame and his massive impact on music, that’ll be one of the key questions Jeen-Yuhs tries to answer.
For more info, check out the film’s official site.
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