Boundary pushing rapper and producer, Kanye West, will be the subject of a new documentary, recently bought by Netflix, that has been years in the making. The polarizing musician and creative has long been both Hollywood’s favorite enigma to immortalize and scapegoat to bash. His most recent presence in the tabloids is owed to his current divorce from his wife of nearly seven years, Kim Kardashian.
Kanye West is a Chicago-born rapper, producer, musician, fashion designer, and overall major Hollywood influencer. His storied career began to really take off when he became a record producer for Roc-A-Fella Records at the turn of the millennium in 2000. Often credited for revitalizing, reimagining, and heavily influencing pop culture and the genre of hip-hop, West has remained in the limelight for years. However, this has not always been for the purest of reasons—West’s career is full of A-list faux pas, incredibly public mental and emotional breakdowns, personal tragedies, and incredible creative intuition and feats of achievement. All of these things have long been chronicled and examined in a multitude of long-form articles, think pieces, and social media tirades. However, despite nine high-caliber albums, and even a reality TV show about his wife’s family, the world has never gotten a full glimpse into the complex mind of Kanye West…until now.
Reported by Billboard, Netflix has just bought a docuseries about Kanye West for upwards of $30 million that will showcase his life and career with never-before-seen video captured over a 21 year time period. The multi-part series, which will come to Netflix later this year, was helmed by Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, known as Coodie & Chike, who directed some of West’s early music videos. A source at Billboard explained that Coodie Simmons has been collecting footage of the rapper since his early days in the 90s. The relationship between Simmons and West will be foundational to the untitled series, which will explore West’s rise to stardom, the impact fame has had on West, the world’s fascination with celebrity, and in more general terms, the way hip-hop culture has become the zeitgeist of popular culture. Additionally, the docuseries will tackle West’s experience with the death of his mother and his other ventures into both fashion and politics. West is not reported to be creatively involved in the series.
Since filming Kanye West’s music videos, Coodie & Chike have moved on to longer projects. They directed the ESPN 30-for-30 installment, Benji and the 2019 Netflix documentary, A Kid From Coney Island, among many more. They will be producing the series along with TIME studios, which produced the critically acclaimed 2020 documentary, John Lewis: Good Trouble, about the titular late civil rights activist, and Amazing Grace, the 2018 concert film of the late Aretha Franklin. It is not yet known whether the docuseries will cover West’s current divorce proceedings from Kim Kardashian.
Another unofficial documentary about Kanye West has been pitched to various places by Steve Stanulis, West’s former bodyguard. However, this documentary, which would most likely picture the rapper more unfavorably, has not yet been sold. While West has been a rather polarizing figure in Hollywood, his content has never failed to cause a stir. Whether the same can be said for this documentary, audiences will have to wait and see.
Source: Billboard