The first episode of the three-part series will premiere Feb. 16 on Netflix.
Kanye West fans are that much closer to seeing the 'jeen-yuhs' at work behind the music. On Friday, Netlix dropped the final trailer for the upcoming docuseries jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, which boasts to be an unprecedented look into the 44-year-old artist's experience, showcasing both his formative days trying to break into the entertainment industry and his life today as a global brand and artist.
Described as a "landmark documentary event," the series comes from Clarence "Coodie" Simmons and Chike Ozah, more commonly known as Coodie & Chike, who first garnered attention with their breakthrough music video for West’s "Through the Wire." Since then, they have directed "Two Words" and a version of "Jesus Walks" in addition to Erykah Badu’s powerful and controversial music video for "Window Seat."
The trailer features glimpses of footage of the rapper captured by Coodie over the years, whose voiceover explains that when he first met the "up-and-coming producer back in '98, I knew he was destined for greatness."
"The goal was to see how far his dreams would take him. But I had no idea where life would take us next," he narrates. "It felt like the bigger Kanye got, the further we grew apart. But there was more to Kanye's story that I needed to tell."
Last month, the rapper took to Instagram to address Netflix about the upcoming release, revealing that he hadn't given said documentary his final seal of approval.
"I’m going to say this kindly for the last time. I must get final edit and approval on this doc before it releases on Netflix," he wrote on Jan. 21. "Open the edit room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image. Thank you in advance 😊."
But in an interview with Variety, Simmons and Ozah claimed that they had final cut over Jeen-Yuhs, not West.
"I said, 'Dude, you have to trust me.' And he did, 100%," Simmons said. "Mind you, when his team and the business-people have gotten involved, they're of course going to have their say. But I needed to tell this story. It's not about making Kanye likable or not. The footage doesn't lie. What makes the film special is that it's not something definitive; it's his journey through my vision."
Either West was appeased or something was worked out behind the scenes, as the jeen-yuhs release is pressing on without delay. The docuseries had its world premiere virtually at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and on Feb. 10, Iconic Events Releasing and TIME Studios will debut Act 1 in theaters nationwide for a one-day engagement. Then the series will premiere for a three-week event Feb. 16 on Netflix.
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