No one loves Kanye West more than Kanye, which is why it’s no surprise he wants eyes on Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, a three-part Netflix documentary chronicling over 20 years of his life and work. In an Instagram post on Friday, West asserted that he “must get 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,†he wrote underneath a promo pic of himself glaring through the screen with the same intensity as the Miley Cyrus blue-eyes meme. “Thank you in advance 😊.â€
Although West reportedly received a producer credit on the upcoming film, directors Coodie & Chike say he initially agreed to relinquish directorial control. “‘Dude, you have to trust me,’†Coodie recounts telling West in an interview with Variety. “And he did, 100%.†However, recent developments may indicate this jeen-yuhs is not ready to hand over the reins just yet. Currently, West is not listed as a producer on the doc, and representatives for Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding his involvement.
Acquired by Netflix last fall and premiering at Sundance later this month, Jeen-yuhs presents never-before-seen videos of West, ranging from his controversial disputes with Taylor Swift to heartfelt moments between West and his late mother, Donda. The filmmaking duo, whose full names are Clarence Simmons and Chike Ozah, began gathering footage of the rapper’s mercurial rise to stardom in 2002, after Coodie featured West on an episode of his Chicago-based cable-access series, Channel Zero. When Coodie hauled a duffel bag filled with archival footage to a meeting with the production company Time Studios in October 2019, the project was picked up on the spot. Ye has never been afraid to derail a rollout with a social-media flare-up. Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy premieres over three weeks beginning on February 16.