‘Jeen-yuhs’ Directors Coodie and Chike On Why the Documentary Has Plural Protagonists

Awards Daily talks to Jeen-yuhs directors Coodie and Chike about the difference between Kanye West and Yeezy and why the documentary is really about two protagonists: Kanye and co-director, Coodie.

When reality TV first became popular, part of the intrigue was the sense of voyeurism, the idea of watching people in their most private moments. At the onset of the reality TV movement, directors Coodie and Chike started following Kanye West’s most private moments in the early 2000s, before he was even famous, as depicted in their Netflix documentary Jeen-yuhs.

“Kanye was just different,” says Coodie. “What was going on in hip-hop in [the late ’90s/early 2000s] was either gangsta rap or flashy rap or conscious rap. Kanye was in between all of that and he had a different style that wasn’t marketed in hip-hop the way Kanye was. They didn’t understand his story, but they knew he was talented.”

But Kanye eventually catapulted to stardom soon after Coodie and Chike put together the video “Through The Wire” in 2003, a song Kanye composed and performed with his jaw wired shut after surviving a car accident.

“It’s like Steve Jobs saying, ‘It’s not about the product, it’s about the story, and the story sells the product.’ And when it came to ‘Through The Wire,’ we told the story, which is really the story we’re telling in Jeen–yuhs right now.”

Kanye and the Rise of Social Media

Even though Kanye started to become popular with the rise of social media, Chike believes it wasn’t until later that social media actually benefited his career.

“The fact that everyone is able to have this conversation with one another because of the Internet,” says Chike. “Him creating content, not just in music, but in fashion and design, I think it’s helped him become a bigger icon because of that.”

Kanye has frequently proven to be ahead of his time, and when it comes to this documentary, he again proves he had a vision beyond what was in front of him—even if he didn’t necessarily want to put out as a “documentary.”

“He still wanted to be filmed, he loved being filmed all the time,” says Coodie. “He had a persona that he was portraying, this overconfident guy, which he is confident, but he didn’t want nobody to see the flaws, but they need to see it, like Michael Jordan missing the game winner, because you learn from those things.”

Maybe because he didn’t want people to see the differences between his personas. When Kanye comes into superstardom, Coodie narrates, “I had met Kanye, but I hadn’t met Yeezy yet.” Chike sees Yeezy as almost a superhero, like Kanye is Clark Kent and Yeezy is Superman. 

“I don’t want to speak on what he thinks, but I just think it allows him to probably be another version of himself,” says Chike, “almost like becoming a super person, becoming this person ideally where he can throw all his insecurities and other things out the window. He has fun with it like Lil Jon. You’d never think he’s the same person that you see on stage. So it’s probably a superhero version of himself that gives him the confidence to perform and be larger than life. But at the end of the day, it’s all you. If you can access these sides of yourself, it’s definitely versions of yourself, especially if you can sustain it for a long period of time.”

‘Plural Protagonists’: Kanye and Coodie

At one point in the documentary, Kanye, after becoming a huge sensation, mistakes his long-time filmmakers for each other on camera, calling Coodie “Chike,” in an awkward, off-the-cuff moment that they decided to keep in the project.

“I definitely felt a certain way in the moment,” says Coodie. “I did feel that [slightly sad], but we all was drunk off of Hennessey at a Hennessey party. We were having a great time. It was a little shocking that he was calling me that, but he knows Chike well, too. Chike was sitting right in front of him. It was definitely like, ‘Why are you trying to play?’ I knew he was joking. But we thought that was a great scene to show.”

While Jeen-yuhs is clearly following the rise of Kanye West, the documentary also has a protagonist in Coodie, who often turns the camera on himself to show what he was doing at the time.

“I knew since I was a standup comedian and used to host Channel Zero, I was always consciously turning the camera toward me to let you know I’m the eyes of this project. But it was a team of all of us from Chike to our manager Kevin Thompson to our editors. We all decided that it would be best for me to actually tell the story, not just be the eyes.”

“You’re always looking for an entry point,” says Chike, “especially in documentaries, especially in stories with characters that are very familiar. With Coodie, it was like a one on one. You can’t duplicate Coodie. Then you can’t duplicate his experience. Being that we tied it to [Kanye’s] experience, we were able to really rally behind his point of view and opinion on things, because we can’t give Kanye’s opinion on things because none of us are Kanye. We can’t tell you what he’s thinking at any time. I just think it gave us an access point that was as close as we could get to information coming from Kanye.”

Coodie and Chike wanted the story to be relatable, and by showing plural protagonists, they showed two figures trying to achieve the same goals on very different tracks.

“We knew that people would resonate with Coodie’s character,” continues Chike. “It gave space for Kanye to be vulnerable and for the viewer watching it.”

In addition to tracking the icon’s journey from beats guy to superstar, Chike also believes Jeen-yuhs is a blueprint for anyone who wants to follow their passion.

“You’re so caught up with this idea of survival and trying to figure out what you love and what makes you happy. For us, this was a blueprint to help people who wanted to move in their passion. We obviously started with Coodie and Kanye, but we all have a similar story about how we moved in our passion.”

Jeen-yuhs is streaming on Netflix.