Before jeen-yuhs premiered on Netflix, Kanye “Ye” West demanded to have final cut approval for the three-part docuseries about his life. Apparently, filmmakers Coodie & Chike denied that request.
Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah made an appearance on The Tamron Hall Show this week to discuss jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy. Coodie directly addressed Ye wanting creative control over the project.
“It was like heartbreaking at first, but I told Kanye when I met with him in [the Dominican Republic] that the story is not about him and it’s not about me, or Chike, or J. Ivy,” said Coodie. “This story’s about, for all the dreamers, and we’re just the blueprint of how you can have the confidence and movement and faith with God walking with you, with Christ walking with you to get to where you need to go.”
The Chicago native continued, “So when he did say he wanted creative control, the only thing I could say was, ‘Trust God.’ Trust God, period. You can’t stop what’s ordained by God. When he said that, I just knew that we were going to hold our ground and we were going to keep moving and we’re here now.”
When asked if he and Chike are still friends with Ye, Coodie responded, “Yeah, we’re definitely still… I mean, he’s always going to be a brother. I’m six years older than him, so he’s always going to be my little brother really, and when I can reach out to him, I will, and I have been, like sending him different quotes and things like that people might send me. But one thing about Kanye is when it comes to telling him not to do something, he wants to do it even more.”
Act 1 of jeen-yuhs – titled “Vision” – began streaming on Netflix on February 16. “Purpose” landed on the global entertainment platform on February 23 with the “Awakening” episode arriving a week later. Coodie & Chike filmed Kanye West for over twenty-one years for the documentary.