Those who miss the old Kanye can see him, now that the Jeen-yuhs release date is here, and the first chapter of Kanye West's Netflix documentary series is streaming. Yes, Netflix has a three-part Kanye docuseries, which will track Mr. West from his earliest days up until his more recent endeavors.
Directed by Coodie and Chike (aka Clarence Simmons Jr., and Chike Ozah), who gave us Kanye's breakthrough music videos for "Through the Wire," and "Jesus Walks," Jeen-yuhs appears to let audiences meet the younger version of Kanye West. The Kanye before "Ye," the Kanye before the Taylor Swift beef. The Kanye before all of the controversy.
The series, which will show a young Mr. West saying "there shouldn't be no way for me to lose, really," will also show us Kanye in conversation with his late mother Donda West, as well as his most famous collaborators including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Common and Mos Def. It also shows West having fun with Kid Cudi, something we're not expecting to happen again any time soon. There' no word on any potential Pete Davidson cameos.
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When does Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy Act 2 come out?
Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy episode 2 comes out on Netflix on Wednesday (Feb. 23) at 3 a.m ET.
Netflix scheduled episodes 2 and 3 for the following Wednesdays. For more recommendations, check out our guide on the new shows to watch.
In other TV news, ABC's sending a show it canceled to live on Hulu after 5 episodes. Looking for more shows and movies that are new on Netflix? After Life season 3 and Archive 81 dropped recently. And if you love Black Mirror, you'll want to circle the Severance release date on your calendar.
For more recommendations that aren't on Netflix, check out our guide on what to watch in February 2022 and recent new movies and shows on HBO Max, Hulu and more.
Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy trailers
The Act 2 trailer sees West during the immediate aftermath of his early success. Emboldened and ready to go harder, better, faster and stronger, Ye is also seen with his mother Donda at his side.
The full-length Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy trailer focuses on Kanye West in the moments before he became a household name. It even gets meta, as West introduces documentarian Clarence 'Coodie' Simmons (who would move his whole life to document West, an up-and-coming producer) to the cameras. Then, we see Kanye with his peers, including Ludacris.
The trailer — which heavily foreshadows West's divisive nature — criss-crosses across West's history. And then we learn that West and Simmons have grown apart, though they're reuniting to tell his story.
Earlier this year, Netflix released the first teaser for Jeen-yuhs, which is made of footage from 2002 where West explains how he had been in an argument with collaborator Rhymefest (also seen in the room). The debate, unsurprisingly, is over the question of whether Kanye is a genius, as Rhymefest asks "Who are you to call yourself a genius?"
The teaser then jumps across Kanye's life, with footage of him with Pharrell Williams in the studio, jumping up and down with Kid Cudi at an event (back when they were on speaking terms) and on stage at various concerts. He ends the trailer talking about how God may have handed him the world, but could also take it away from him.
The "first look" trailer for Jeen-yuhs came out in Sept. 2021, and starts with archival footage (again, from 2002) of Mos Def rapping his verse from the Kanye West song "Two Words." And soon, West (then primarily a producer) spits his bars, and it's not hard to see his anger about being overlooked. The two shake hands as the trailer ends.
Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy episodes
Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy is a three-episode series, and since the first chapter (also called Act I) focuses on Kanye West before we knew who he was, the next two episodes (known as Act II and Act III) will go over further stories from West's career, including his 2002 car crash and his support for Donald Trump.
Each act has a subtitle:
- Jeen-yuhs episode 1 (Act 1: Vision) — Feb. 16, 2022
- Jeen-yuhs episode 2 (Act II: Purpose) — Feb. 23, 2022
- Jeen-yuhs episode 3 (Act III: Awakening) — March 2, 2022
