jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy

Kanye West is a young producer from Chicago who wants to prove that he can also become a major rapper. Coodie Simmons follows him from small apartments and recording rooms to New York studios, record labels, world tours, and giant public events. The first two episodes show West fighting for a record deal, surviving a serious car crash, and making The College Dropout with help from his mother Donda and many music friends. The last episode jumps through his fame, Donda’s death, his changing behavior, and the growing distance between West and the filmmakers. The tone moves from warm and funny to sad, tense, and uncertain. The show gives some space to West’s ideas about Black life, Black voters, fame, and being judged for refusing expected political views. It also includes a short part of his 2020 presidential campaign, including his emotional comments about abortion, but the film does not build its story around those ideas. Its main message follows talent, faith, family, grief, mental health, and the cost of becoming famous. The strongest theme is the change from a hungry young artist surrounded by friends to a powerful but isolated man who can no longer be reached in the same way.