Becoming a Jeen-Yuhs: 5 Things I Learned From Kanye’s Netflix Documentary
I just finished watching the third and final episode of Ye’s Netflix docu-series, Jeen-Yuhs. It was absolutely brilliant! I enjoyed every bit of it, from the storytelling to the editing style to the narration of Coodie, the visionary who had the foresight to see that Kanye was on his way to becoming a star and sacrificed everything to document that journey. It was very interesting to see 21 years of Kanye West’s life documented, storified and then shared with the world. Ye has gone through a tumultuous journey, from his nearly fatal car accident to losing his mother to becoming a billionaire and currently facing a very public divorce. Ye’s life is a movie, literally. We just got the opportunity to witness it on Netflix thanks to the visionary storytelling of his long time best friend, Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah.
This post isn’t about analysing Ye’s life’s journey but highlighting a few things I learned that I believe creatives and entrepreneurs can learn as well on their journey to success. Here are 5 things I learned from Ye’s jeen-yuhs, and how you can become a Jeen-Yuhs too.
1. Radical Self-Belief:
There’s a scene where Kanye is going round the offices of Roc-A-Fella, playing his songs for senior management but they were largely ignoring him. Although, to be fair he interrupted their work by walking in with a camera crew and playing music they didn’t want to hear. Everybody in Roc-A-Fella just wanted Kanye to produce, make beats and get out of the way. But Kanye had this radical self-belief that he could rap but not just rap, he believed he could be one of the greatest rappers in the game.
Creators must have this absolute, radical belief in themselves and the work they’re doing. For many creatives, you’ll be largely ignored or outrightly told that you can’t do what you want to do. Let the loudest voice in your head be your own voice. Have faith in yourself. Keep pushing.
2. Tell Your Story, Through The Wire
This brings me to my second point: no one is going to tell your story, you better tell your story. I wrote an article in The Fireworks Newsletter saying, closed mouths don’t get fed and Kanye proves this. 7 days after his nearly fatal car accident. Kanye wrote, produced and rapped Through The Wire while his jaw was wired shut. Even death wasn’t going to shut Kanye West up. He was going to prove to critics and death that he was going to tell his story, his own way.
No one saw him as a rapper. They saw him as a producer and beatmaker but he knew he wanted to be more. So he went out, produced the College Dropout album and played it for everyone that had two ears. Kanye was his own Chief Marketing Officer. He teaches us to tell our stories! If you truly believe in yourself and what you’re creating then sell yourself and your works.
3. Mama’s Encouragement:
To me, the star of this documentary is the Late Dr Donda West, Kanye’s mother, who unfortunately died of a heart attack. Regardless, we still got to see her radical belief in her son and the words she shared with him. It was beautiful to see her rap some of the songs word-for-word, visit him in the studios, call him and pray for him. As a matter of fact, the documentary revealed that she was the one that bought him his first beatmaker and introduced him to legendary hip-hop producer, No ID. Donda, it seems, was Ye’s Northstar, his number one fan and moral compass. But more than anything, Mama West was Kanye’s Chief Encouragement Officer. Even though you radically believe in yourself and you’re able to tell your story, knowing that your loved ones support you is infinitely rewarding.
4. Cosigns & Collaborations:
It was also beautiful to see golden moments like a younger Kanye West getting cosigns from hip-hop legends like Pharell Williams, Scarface, Ludacris and finally his Roc-A-Fella bosses Jay-Z and Dame Dash. When he finally got to rap for Jay-Z and get a song feature, he felt like he was a step closer to achieving his dreams. For creatives, we must understand that the journey to becoming a jeen-yuhs requires us to be humble enough to reach out for collaborations. Collaborations introduce you to the world of the person you’re collaborating with and their cosign or stamp of approval makes others trust you and see you as an authority in your field.
5. Be Proud, Be Humble:
“The giant looks in the mirror and sees nothing,” Mama West says to Kanye when he goes to visit her in her Chicago home. In a motherly way, knowing her son, she tells him it’s ok to be confident but humility is a trait he mustn’t forget. Again, I repeat that Mama West is the star of this docu-series. Creatives, be big enough to know that you’re not big enough. Like Pharell told Kanye in episode two, “When they tell you you’re hot, still doubt yourself.” In context, he was saying he didn’t want Kanye to ever get complacent even though he was a hot creative. The dual characteristics of confidence and humility must not be lost on you, dear creative entrepreneur.
I’ll probably do part two of Becoming a Jeen-Yuhs, because there’s so much I gleaned from it as a storyteller and creative entrepreneur.
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