Here’s What We Learned From the Jeen-Yuhs Documentary

The final act of Kanye’s documentary Jeen yuhs shows us the controvesarial producer, rapper, turned fashion designer, life from the past two decades. News outlets have called the documentary a heartbreaking ode to the old Kanye.

The beginning of the documentary shows us a clip of a young Kanye West in New York in 2002. Kanye, Rhymefest and other producers are listening to a song called Last Call, which would eventually be included in his debut album the College Dropout in 2004. We see the men here having a playful debate about being considered a genius and of course being Kanye, he argues the fact that he is. It was an eerie throwback of Kanye before the final phase of Jeen yuhs was shown.

The documentary picks up on March 2, 2005. Coodie, the filmmaker and childhood friend of Kanye, documents Kanye as he shoots his Spaceships music video. At this point Coodie says there’s no more day to day shooting. Kanye is also actively preparing for his sophomore album which would become Late Registration. Despite his successful beginnings as an artist finally becoming reality, he tells Coodie that he’s still not ready for the world to see who he is. He reveals he is acting as a different person to the public because he is now an A-list celebrity.

2005 Kanye West was definitely legendary. His album Late Registration debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, he claimed then President George didn’t care about Black people during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina Victims and Oprah asked if he was arrogant on live television. However he admitted that he’s a mama’s boy and performs the song Hey Mama in tribute to his mother Donda who is sitting in the first row of the audience. Her genuine love for her son and the support she gave him is so beautiful to see on film.

Donda West, affectionately called Mama West by Coodie, was undeniably the driving force behind Kanye’s success. She took care of her son, became an educator to give her son a better life, drove with him to New York for the first time in a U-haul truck and she gave her son the most beautiful words of affirmation. After Kanye won the grammy for best rap album for Late Registration, Coodie states Kanye wasn’t around as much but would still get calls from Mama West to document her life. Even when Kanye wasn’t around she and her sisters spoke highly on her musically gifted son. From there we see unreleased behind the scenes footage of Donda

and Kanye at their foundation’s event, which they created together to give back to people. Coodie states it’s clear how much Donda’s words influenced him. The bigger he got the more he wanted her around. “Well Kanye, thank you for being just an outstanding son,” Donda said in archived footage. You really are pretty cool, pretty cool. The best, as a matter of fact.”

Tragedy strikes when Donda West passes away on Nov.10, 2007. The documentary pinpoints the exact moment where Kanye spirals into his mental health issues. After one week Kanye is seen grieving publicly on stage and declaring his hatred of the media, for the excessive amount of attention he had been receiving since his mother’s death. Kanye then begins his Glow in Dark Tour, but Coodie can tell Kanye is no longer himself. During a recording session Coodie said Kanye told him something he’s never heard before, “Stop filming me.” For the next six years that’s exactly what happened.

The years go by and Coodie has had no contact with Kanye. All he could do was watch the grieving artist’s life play out on social media and the news. Thanks to rapper Common, Coodie was invited to film his music festival in his hometown Chicago in 2014. Kanye was due to make a surprise appearance. By this point Kanye was now in his Yeezy persona, which worried Coodie.

The documentary fast forwards to 2016. Kanye drops his first fashion collection during New York Fashion Week in February and has his listening party for his seventh upcoming album The Life of Pablo. Kanye’s mental health is constantly questioned by the public. He has breakdowns at shows and it’s also around the time where his then wife Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

Not too long after he is then seen supporting then President Trump on his surprise and controversial Nov. 6 Presidential election win. On Nov. 19 he makes his public outburst on stage about his opinion on slavery in the United States. When he is put into a psychiatric hospital due to his mental health spiraling out of control it makes national news. Coodie does not see Kanye again until June 27, 2017 in Los Angeles, but this time he seems like he’s getting back to the old Kanye from Chicago.

Coodie at this point thinks he’s ready to close out the documentary, but he was wrong. Coodie, Kanye, and Kid Cudi then take a trip to China in 2017. While there Kanye and Cudi make new songs together and Kanye is trying to find the best manufacturers and designers to create his shoes. Here we see the complete start up of his infamous Yeezy shoe collection from start to finish. Kanye is happy, smiling the whole time and it seems like he’s getting healthy. Kanye is obviously at his happiest when he’s being creative. Watching the creative time work and execution of the designs was the highlight footage of the trip to China. The men’s spirits fade as they realize they have to go back to the United States, where the media and press attention puts pressure on Kanye’s mental health recovery.

Everyone across the world thinks Kanye West is in the sunken place at this point. Because of his strong political support of Trump this was the first time where Kanye lost people instead of just rubbing them the wrong way. Despite this Kanye managed to divert the media away from his political views and instead focuses on his religious views. Coodie documents Kanye’s Sunday Church Services concerts. Kanye believes his job is to spread the gospel. By doing this he believes he is no longer a slave and is free. He also moves his sneaker line back to the United States and puts its headquarters in one of his favorite places, Wyoming.

During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic Coodie finally starts to put together the clips that would become Jeen yuhs. This is also the year that Kanye announces his run for

president after denouncing Trump. In the Dominican Republic after going over his president campaign with his team, he argues with potential partners and angrily asks them if they’ve ever been put into a hospital bed handcuffed because their brain was too large for their skull, if they have to take bipolar medication to have a normal conversation, or as he calls it to speak from alien to english.

Despite the constant media scrutiny Kanye is later seen rebuilding his relationship with his estranged father and we see Kanye healing mentally more. Coodie encourages Kanye to not listen to news reporter interviews, but he listens anyway saying, “We don’t kneel anymore, we stand.”

“Jeen-Yuhs this was an intimate portrait of one man, from beyond humble beginnings to a legacy that rivals the greatest of talents, said videographer and former UWM student Jake Neuman, “What Jeen-Yuhs does really well is tell the story of one mans simple, but twisting journey through life in an up close manor. It definitely gives you a side that you never see and shows that you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with. But it lacks a certain depth to it. Like this was just one big ode to Ye’s ego. What’s next? Kanye lands with a ferris wheel with Kim K’s face on it? Its geometry of belief parallels the veiled personalization. The bigger the lie, the easier it is to believe.”

Twitter users gave rave reviews about Jeen-Yuhs online despite Kanye doing through public scrutiny over his social media posts aimed at his legally separated wife Kim Kardashian.

Twitter hyperlinks:

1. https://twitter.com/wxplora/status/1499857973723938817?s=21 2. https://twitter.com/excitebikee/status/1499008716800200704?s=21 3. https://twitter.com/arvindkris/status/1499286378336559105?s=21 4. https://twitter.com/chasencashe/status/1499246373505437697?s=21

Kanye didn’t win the election, his comments still are controversial subjects to this day and his public have always raised some eyebrows. One thing most can agree on is that Jeen yuhs was the hidden gem the billionaire kept hidden from us for over 20 years, and it was well worth it.