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Nobody could claim that Kanye West suffers from a lack of self-aggrandizement, so it’s appropriate that the upcoming three part docuseries about the artist’s life is titled jeen-yuhs (“genius,” get it?). And now we have our first look at a clip from the highly anticipated peek behind the scenes, courtesy of Netflix’s TUDUM virtual event.
The documentary, too, is highly ambitious. For jeen-yuhs, producing duo Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, better known as Coodie and Chike, are drawing on footage that has been filmed over two decades of Kanye’s life. According to Netflix, it will be an “intimate and revealing portrait of Kanye’s experience, showcasing both his formative days trying to break through and his life today as a global brand and artist.”
News first broke about the docuseries back in April, along with a report that it may cost as much as $30 million — though a source told Variety that number was not accurate. If it is, though, for comparison that would be about as much as Friends cost per episode in its final season, and $5 million less per episode than the final season of Game of Thrones. As of yet, we don’t know if jeen-yus will have a comparable amount of dragons, or friends.
Previously, Coodie and Chike directed ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary Benji, as well as A Kid From Coney Island, a doc on former NBA basketball player Stephon Marbury. Kanye West has become an increasingly controversial figure over the past few years for, among other things, running for President, tweeting any number of hot takes, and getting divorced from Kim Kardashian. We’ll just see how much of that recent past jeen-yus covers when it’s released on Netflix. For now, watch the clip above, and speculate.
