Kanye West’s Latest ‘Jeen-Yuhs’ Demand Is Apparently For Drake To Narrate It

The Jeen-Yuhs documentary series on Ye (aka Kanye West) is set to premiere on Netflix on February 16. That’s pretty soon, but Ye, who has plenty of experience of working up until and often beyond deadlines, wants to make a last-minute change.

In a now-deleted Instagram post (archived by The Shade Room), Ye shared a screenshot of a text conversation with somebody represented by a “C” icon… perhaps Clarence Simmons Jr. or Chike Ozah, aka Jeen-Yuhs directors Coodie & Chike? In response to a message that reads, “Would love for you to see all 3 movies,” Ye responded, “I need Drake to do the narration.” Ye also captioned the post, “DRAKE WANNA NARRATE THE DOCUMENTARY.” Furthermore, Drake actually liked the post, suggesting that he’d be interested in taking Ye up on that proposal, or at least that he was amused by the post.

It doesn’t seem like this request will be fulfilled. Ye previously requested final edit approval, but Coodie & Chike shot that down considering the documentary was already complete. Coodie also noted, “Me and Chike have a company called Creative Control, because you don’t want to lose your creative control.” Coodie also said of running into Ye, “I asked him, ‘Did he watch the film?’ And he said, ‘I have a process.’ I said, ‘That’s great that you got your process.’ And we just talked as brothers from that point.”

A New ‘Jeen-Yuhs’ Trailer Teases An Exploration Of Kanye West’s Journey So Far

Ye (aka Kanye West) is on a lot of people’s minds right now, for reasons including Kim Kardashian drama, Julia Fox, and the upcoming Donda 2. On top of that, there’s also the upcoming Jeen-Yuhs documentary series, which is set to premiere on Netflix on February 16. Ahead of that, Netflix has shared a new trailer.

The trailer features a voiceover from co-director Clarence “Coodie” Simmons, in which he says, “When I first put the camera on this up-and-coming producer in ’98, I knew he was destined for greatness. 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.”

There’s also a quote from West in which he explains what he thinks are the reasons behind his success, saying “I just think it was in God’s plan. I think He just has me here for a reason and I have something to say. 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 gonna look back like, ‘Man, remember dude used to just make beats for people?”

Watch the Jeen-Yuhs trailer above.

Kanye West Demands Final Edit Approval Over His Upcoming Netflix Series

The Netflix documentary series about Kanye West, Jeen-yuhs, has been highly anticipated since it was announced last year after months of rumors and with the recent release of the trailer, that anticipation has reached a fever pitch. Unfortunately, it looks like the one person at the center of the maelstrom is unhappy with the arrangements for its impending premier. In a post to his Instagram, the notoriously fickle Ye demanded more creative control over the project, which he’s apparently worried could paint him in an unflattering light (he knows we all saw the last five years, right?).

“I’m going to say this kindly for the last time,” he wrote. “I 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. Thank you in advance.”

While such a demand is par for the course for Kanye, it’s not all that unusual for Netflix either. The company recently honored an impassioned public request from Dave Chappelle to remove episodes of his Comedy Central sketch show from the service over a royalty dispute, and it likely extended every courtesy to the subjects of recent shows about athletes Colin Kaepernick and Naomi Osaka. However, with the Jeen-yuhs premiere date less than a month away, Netflix may not have time for Ye’s usual last-minute shenanigans. Certainly, if he gets to edit the film himself, it’ll probably end up being a much more sanitized affair — and let’s face it, with this subject, that would be a loss for fans of cinema, Kanye, and hip-hop history.

Ye’s Career-Long Confidence In On Display In A New ‘Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy’ Documentary Teaser

In early 2021, it was revealed that a Ye (then Kanye West) documentary was heading to Netflix, with reports noting that it would “deal with the death of West’s mother, Donda West, and the impact it had on the rapper; his personal evolution in recent years; his successful move into fashion design and his unsuccessful run for President in 2020.” Then, a few months ago, Netflix shared a first-look clip from the film (then titled Jeen-Yuhs), and now, they’ve offered the first official teaser of Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy. They also note “the once in a lifetime three-week global event begins February 16.”

The clips begins with Ye chopping it up with some associates and calling himself a genius… in 2002, well before the release of his 2004 debut album The College Dropout. Elsewhere, there are videos of what looks like Ye post-wisdom teeth removal, working on music, spending time with his mother, and more.

In case you missed it, Netflix has shared a couple other video about the documentary in recent months. After the aforementioned first-look clip, last month, they also shared a ten-minute conversation between directors Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah (aka Coodie And Chike) about the documentary and their early experiences with Ye. In the clip, Simmons says, “When I started filming Kanye, I’m like, ‘OK, I’m going to just document and see how far he’s going to take his career.’ Seeing him win Grammys, I’m still… […] But then to be documenting Kanye, you understand you’re going to see an array of characters.”

Watch the new teaser video and the aforementioned other clips above.