The footage featured in Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, was captured by co-directors Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, who began following Kanye more than 20 years ago. As Coodie explains in the doc, he knew that Kanye would be a star from the time he interviewed him for a public access show in their shared hometown of Chicago in 1998. After Kanye moved to New York City, Coodie saw the first beat that Kanye had ever played for him, Jay-Z’s song “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” being played on the BET Awards a few years later, and that convinced him to follow him, in order to record a documentary of his breakthrough.
When Kanye appeared on Def Poetry Jam in 2003, Donda came to see her son and he told him was “so magnificent” and commended him for including his political views. Still, she regularly reminded him to stay humble, despite his great talent.
