Kanye West fans moved by Netflix clip showing young rapper trying to get signed
A new three-part series explores the rapper’s rise to fame
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Your support makes all the difference.Fans have been moved by footage of a young Kanye West wandering around the Roc-A-Fella Records HQ in search of people to play his music to.
Netflix’s new three-part series, Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, explores the controversial artist’s rise to fame, from a producer making beats for other rappers to one of the biggest names on the planet.
In the first part, which was released to the streaming service on Wednesday 16 February, clips show the uphill battle West faced in trying to be taking seriously as an artist in his own right.
An early clip shows him describing his songs, which would later appear on 2004 debut The College Dropout, as “a breath of fresh air”.
However, he needed to get signed, as documentary-maker Coodie points out in the voiceover. Having just helped to produced Jay-Z’s critically acclaimed album The Blueprint, West wanted to be signed by the fellow rapper’s label, Roc-A-Fella.
Coodie explains that their group decided to “rush” Roc-A-Fella’s headquarters in New York. Footage then shows West and his entourage going into various offices and taking over hi-fi systems to play songs from The College Dropout, including “All Falls Down” ft Syleena Johnson.
At one point, he takes out his retainer in order to rap along with the recorded version. Another clip shows him nervously hovering about while his music plays, as a distracted Carline Balan, then executive assistant at the label, talks on the phone.
She asks Coodie to cut the camera and ushers them out of her office.
“Man when Kanye played ‘All Falls Down’ at Roc-A-Fella and they weren’t feeling it, I knew that all I have to do is start,” one fan wrote on Twitter. “Doesn’t matter who feels and who doesn’t feel my work. The right person will.”
“That scene in #JeenYuhs when Kanye is walking through Roc-A-Fella Records playing ‘All Falls Down’ and they’re paying him no mind. Fuel to the fire,” another tweeted.
“The scene where Kanye West rushes the Roc-A-Fella office, rapping All Falls Down just to be brushed off by ppl may be the best part of the whole thing [sic],” said one fan . “I wonder how they all feel now? You really have to admire the determination he had when he was coming up.”
Ye has been embroiled in controversy over the past few weeks due to the ongoing dispute between him and his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, along with her boyfriend, SNL star Pete Davidson.
After being criticised by fans on social media and called “scary” by Kardashian, West deleted all of his related posts before creating a new one which read: “I’ve learned that using all caps makes people feel like I’m screaming at them. I’m working on my communication.”
The first part of Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy is available to stream on Netflix now.
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