Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, continues to be the man of the hour — really the last few weeks — thanks to all the buzz around his 11th album, Donda 2, and the Wednesday (Feb. 23) release of Act II of his highly anticipated Netflix three-part docuseries Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy.
Directed by Coodie & Chike, Part II, titled “Purpose,” comes one day after Ye hosted his “Donda Experience Performance” live from Miami’s LoanDepot Park with surprise guest appearances from Pusha T, Migos, Jack Harlow, Playboi Carti, Alicia Keys and more ahead of the album’s previously scheduled Feb. 22 release date.
Part II chronicles the delayed making of Ye’s debut studio album The College Dropout, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and charted for 96 weeks after he survived a car crash that left his jaw broken in three places. “I used this entire album as my rehabilitation,” West explained. “I made songs that inspired me, songs that gave me life. I feel like this album was kinda like my angel that helped heal me. It revived my spirits.”
Trending on Billboard
Check out some of the best moments from the roughly 90-minute episode below:
1. A pre-teen Ye shows off his rap skills in a 1990 home video and declares his future career
Part II opens with a heartfelt home video dated May 17, 1990, capturing Ye and his family enjoying time together. As the camera pans the room, it eventually shows a young Ye (a few weeks shy of his 13th birthday) sporting a white top with black polka dots eager to drop some fire bars.
“What’s up in effect and it’s time to select,” the superstar-to-be begins. “The mind of Kanye is the place to be/ Can’t you see it’s me/ And I’m freshly/ Moving and grooving and proving to you/ I can be moving/ And yo/ I’m pursuing the rap art fo’ sure.”
He finishes off affirming, “I’m sway in top place/ I’m not going back/ When I wear the polka dots ’cause that’s what I got/ I’m def and I’m fresh and I am the best/ Nothing less can come from West.”
2. Ye signs a deal with Roc-A-Fella
The documentary also shows footage from inside Roc-A-Fella’s “Paid in Full” press conference, which took place in New York two decades ago, in October 2002. When Coodie asked Dame Dash about the label’s plans for then “new artist Kanye West,” the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella said, “Kanye is definitely a ‘Roc-A-Fella.’ He’s an entrepreneur [and] he’s promoting himself as we speak.”
At the time, Dash and other attendees didn’t know Ye would eventually become a billionaire. “Every time I see him… he has a f—ing camera with him and he does really good music,” Dash said.
When given a chance to speak for himself, Ye said, “I definitely think I’m bringing an entire new market to Roc-A-Fella … Because I went through the struggle of being broke, I’m like everybody sitting out here.”
At the time, the label still recognized Ye primarily as a producer, but his goal was to become a distinguished rapper. So he set his sights on appearing on Jay-Z’s upcoming sequel to The Blueprint.
3. Jay-Z bets on Ye’s success
As West continued trying to find his footing as a standout rapper within his new Roc-A-Fella label, he decided that landing a feature on Jay-Z’s seventh studio album The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse would be the next big thing to advance his career trajectory.
“[This is] just a long-a– way from f—ing rapping in my mama’s crib,” a visibly proud Ye said after finishing his verse, which appears on their collaborative song “The Bounce.”
“Closed mouths don’t get fed, you understand? He wouldn’t have been on that,” Jay-Z said in a clip. And when HOV was later asked how he feels about West, the Roc-A-Fella co-founder said, “Ye West! Hot! Fire! Put my money on him.”
4. Kanye survives car crash
As many longtime fans know, Ye broke his jaw in three places following a near-deadly car crash while leaving an October 2002 studio session. At the time, many thought his career would be over.
But in true West fashion, despite the setback, he decided to push through with his song “Through the Wire.” Cameras followed West as he went to a dentist appointment following the incident.
“In my opinion, you should have physical therapy to get your jaw mobilized,” his dentist recommended. “If you don’t mobilize it, it’s gonna get stuck.” Still, West was eager to appear in an upcoming music video.
After its November 2003 debut, “Through the Wire” became a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jamie Foxx appears in the documentary while recording their collaborative groove “Slow Jamz.” The song, which also includes Twista, topped the Hot 100. After recording the hit inside Foxx’s at-home studio, West continued borrowing studio time from other artists because Roc-A-Fella had tabled the production of his album College Dropout due to the accident.
5. Ludacris and Pharrell say the world is about to discover Ye
While recording their song “Breathe In Breathe Out” together, Ludacris had some encouraging words to say about West.
“Kanye West, one of the top-notch producers and top-notch rappers in the game,” Ludacris began. “I ain’t gonna lie to you, he surprised the sh– out of me. Believe that man, everybody already knows about his production. They’re about to find out he got skills. Believe me, the n—a got skills.”
During another recording session, Pharrell appears visibly surprised to see Ye’s freestyle lyricism. “I didn’t know!” Pharrell repeatedly said. “I just thought it was [producing] the music. I didn’t know. This guy is like … I’m so impressed.”
The proud rapper then played “Through the Wire” to gauge Pharrell’s thoughts on the track. “That sh– is phenomenal. You’re one of my favorite artists,” Pharrell said. “I only heard like two records. You’re gonna make it.” He then urged Ye to “keep the same hunger” even after he makes it in the industry.
Along the way, West also gained support from Chicago-native comedian DeRay Davis, who soon became the voice of Ye’s College Dropout album skits.
Still, Roc-A-Fella kept the album on the far back burner after Ye’s accident, so he continued producing beats to stay afloat.
6. Ye gets his mom Donda West’s stamp of approval for “Hey Mama”
About four years ahead of of her 2007 death, Ye’s mom Donda West declared “Hey Mama” as her most adored song by her son. “That’s my favorite song,” the doting mom said. As they walked outside together, Donda said, “Kanye, that was so magnificent what you did. You snapped. I’m telling you, you did. Did you hear me, I was like, ‘Kanye! Alright, give it up.'”
She went on, “You said some heavy political stuff in between … I was like, ‘Oh snap!'” All this went on as Ye continued treating his severely injured jaw five months after the car accident. West eventually decided to postpone his reconstructive surgery to continue recording College Dropout.
Later in the episode, Donda declares that 2004 will be their best year yet during a New Year’s Eve party at her son’s first Los Angeles home. “It’s just gonna get better,” she said. ” … We’re gonna make it, we’re gonna do it .. for everybody on the team.”
7. Ye calls out Roc-A-Fella for delaying The College Dropout release date and cutting his budget
After planning the release party for the “Through the Wire” music video just one day in advance, Ye opened up about some of the struggles he was experiencing with his label.
“I don’t know if you know this, but my album keeps getting pushed back,” he told the audience of supporters. “And I don’t know if you know this, but my marketing budget is not open. I don’t know if you know this, but they actually haven’t paid for me to have the black-and-white shot that people get when they originally get signed. I got signed a year ago.”
He went on, “The reason I make tracks at this point is to have enough money to pay for my T-shirts, to have enough money to pay for my mixtapes.”
When Dash joined the party, Ye continued, “This video cost me $33,000 that I paid for out of my pocket. We put this together to get the buzz going so I can get me a release date.” He then gave a special shout-out to Clarence “Coodie” Simmons for shooting the footage.
8. Dame Dash admits he didn’t see Ye’s vision initially
Finally as Ye started to gain major traction on radio, TV appearances and more, Dash admitted, “I’m not gonna lie, I never really paid him too much attention. I was like, ‘Stick to the beats, kid.'”
He went on, “The thing I liked about him the most is he never tried to be like anybody. He was very intent on being original and doing things his way. On another level, he’s always controlled his own destiny.”
9. Director and close friend Coodie realizes Ye’s success was changing the artist
“The impact of The College Dropout forever changed the culture, but it felt like the bigger Kanye got, the further we grew apart,” Coodie said. Then Ye went on tour without him.
As their friendship with Ye appeared to be dwindling, Coodie and Chike began directing music videos for other artists. In 2004, they went on to document John Legend’s making of “Ordinary People.”
But then West circled back to Coodie & Chike to shoot his “Jesus Walks” music video in Chicago after some failed attempts with other directors he originally felt were a better fit for the gig. Clearly, the friendship was rekindled as Coodie & Chike are the directors of Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy.
After The College Dropout finally dropped, Ye earned 10 Grammy nominations for his debut studio album.