Takeaways from Netflix's latest 'jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy' trailer

The first episode of the three-part documentary will be shown on February 16

Kanye West in a scene from the documentary "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy". Photo: AP

The latest trailer for jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy has been released by Netflix, offering a further taste of what to expect from the three-part documentary.

The show is directed by Clarence "Coodie" Simmons and Chike Ozah, billed as Coodie & Chike, who were friends of Kanye West's and made a couple of the rapper’s early music videos for him.

The in-depth look at West’s rise was 21 years in the making and was shown for the first time at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah on January 23.

Act 1 of the series is to be shown on February 16, and the latest two-minute trailer covers some of the ground that will feature in this opening episode.

It traces West’s journey from a young beatmaker in Chicago to a world-famous rapper. It touches on the hungry, focused, self-made musician before he became an increasingly erratic billionaire.

"When I first put the camera on this up-and-coming producer back in 1998, I knew he was destined for greatness," narrator Simmons says, in the trailer. "The goal was to see how far his dreams would take him, but I had no idea where life would take us next. It felt like the bigger Kanye got, the farther we grew apart. But there was more to Kanye's story that I needed to tell.”

West’s self-belief is obvious from the outset. “I just think it was in God’s plan,” he says in the trailer. “I think he has me here for a reason and I have something to say.”

But there are also rare and unexpected moment of humility. “There’s people that might be better programmers, better rappers. The way I think I really won, is I had the heart. If I do what I’m supposed to do, people are going to look back like: ‘Man. Remember dude used to just make beats for people?'”

A more human, affectionate side of West’s personality is also shown in his interactions with his mother, Donda. “I would like to congratulate you on the good job you did with me,” he says to her at one point, as they both laugh.

West shared a post on Instagram in January demanding the final edit and approval of the documentary before its Netflix premiere, but this was not granted.

"Open the edit room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image,” he wrote.

The trailer comes as West is embroiled in an increasingly bitter and public battle with his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.

On Friday, West expressed his disapproval of the presence of their daughter, North West, aged 8, on TikTok. “Since this is my first divorce, I need to know what I should do about my daughter being put on TikTok against my will,” West wrote in his post, which had a screenshot of the account in question.

Kardashian responded by speaking out against West's "hurtful" and "constant attacks" on her, claiming that their daughter's social media use is supervised.

"Divorce is difficult enough on our children, and Kanye's obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly is only causing further pain for all," she wrote on an Instagram Story.