Kanye West has asked to be given the “final edit and approval” on his new Jeen-Yuhs documentary before it arrives on Netflix next month.
Announced last year, Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy will present an “intimate and revealing portrait of Kanye West’s experience, showcasing both his formative days trying to break through and his life today as a global brand and artist”.
The first “act” of the three-part doc series is due to premiere on February 16, with the subsequent episodes to follow as weekly instalments. An official teaser arrived earlier this month.
Taking to Instagram yesterday (January 21), West wrote: “I’m going to say this kindly for the last time. I must get [the] 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. Thank you in advance.” You can see that post below.
Jeen-Yuhs is being directed by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah, who are long-time friends and collaborators of West. As Variety reports, the filmmakers had set out to make the documentary without the rapper’s approval.
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“I said, ‘Dude, you have to trust me.’ And he did, 100%,” Simmons told the outlet. “Mind you, when his team and the business-people have gotten involved, they’re of course going to have their say.”
The director went on to say that he “needed to tell this story”, adding: “It’s not about making Kanye likeable 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.”
Speaking to IndieWire (via Pitchfork), Simmons said that he was “not certain” West had seen the film. “I haven’t had a conversation with Kanye about it,” he explained, though “his team’s seen it”.
Following the rapper’s request on Instagram, it has been reported that the co-directors are pushing forwards with the project as planned (via Complex). “We have to be true to the story,” Simmons explained. “We can’t sugarcoat nothing. Everybody is going to have their own opinion.”
Ozah previously described Jeen-Yuhs as a “whole history lesson of music”, adding: “We’re crossing generations in three films.
“At the end, Kanye is collaborating with artists that were babies. But the crazy part is that Kanye’s a throughline; still as relevant at the end as he is in the beginning because his music passes the test of time.”
Meanwhile, West is set to headline Coachella 2022 alongside fellow bill-toppers Billie Eilish and Harry Styles. This year’s festival will take place across two consecutive weekends: April 15-17 and April 22-24.
In other news, it’s been reported that Kanye West is currently at work on ‘DONDA 2’. He released his 10th studio album, ‘DONDA’, last August.