The three-part documentary, composed of behind-the-scenes footage shot by co-director Clarence 'Coodie' Simmons, premiered its first act in Sundance.
s: Clarence “Coodie” Simmons, Chike Ozah, J. IvyDirected by Chike Ozah and longtime West chronicler Clarence “Coodie” Simmons, who’s been filming the rapper on and off for the past two decades,offers a front row look at what it takes to thrive in the cutthroat climate of the hip-hop biz, and the burden it places on those at the top to stay relevant.
By then, Kanye had already blown up as the virtuoso young beatmaker behind half of Jay-Z’s classic 2001 album, as well as tracks by East Coast stalwarts like Scarface, Cam’ron, Taleb Kweli, Beanie Sigel and Lil’ Kim. But he had bigger plans for himself than to sit in front of a mixing board: He wanted to be the next Jay-Z.
The scene is telling because it shows how he’d stop at nothing to be heard — how humiliation wasn’t a word in his rhyme book. Forcing his way through the front, back and side doors of Roc-A-Fella not as a producer but as a legit MC, he eventually managed to get signed.
The jump in the last act, “AWAKENING,” from rap phenomenon to music-and-fashion mogul bloated on meds is not always easy to sit through, and Simmons is genuinely concerned enough about his old Chi-town buddy to come running with his HD cam whenever he calls. Covering the period from 2005 to the present, the final installment charts Kanye’s various rises and falls via montage sequences that fill in all the gaps, making it less compelling than the years where Simmons captured things firsthand.
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