Netflix buys Kanye West documentary series with footage spanning 21 years

A documentary series spanning over two decades of footage and home videos of Kanye West’s life and work has landed at Netflix.

The untitled multi-part docuseries hails from music video producing duo Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, known as Coodie & Chike, who directed and produced West’s 2004 music video 'Jesus Walks (Version 3)' and 'Through the Wire'. The Netflix project is expected to be released this year.

West is the latest musician to join a boom in pop star documentaries, following Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Tina Turner, Shawn Mendes and Blackpink.

Last month, West won his first gospel Grammy and 22nd career Grammy for his Jesus Is King album, marking the first time since 2013 that he has been honoured by the Recording Academy.

West first became known as a producer, particularly for his work on Jay-Z’s 2001 album The Blueprint. He received huge acclaim for his subsequent solo albums, The College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation.

His 2008 album 808s and Heartbreak proved polarising for its heavy use of AutoTune – yet it was ahead of its time, with the aesthetic later overtaking pop and rap in the decade to come. West’s 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is widely considered among the defining albums of its era.

2013’s industrial-tinged Yeezus was his final album in his trademark style before his Christian faith became more central to his work and public persona in the late 2010s.

West has been embroiled in controversy throughout his career, from accusing former US president George W Bush of failing to care about Black people in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, to interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV video music awards, sparking a decade-long divisive argument. In 2016, West came out as a Trump supporter, but in 2020 said he was “taking the red hat off”. In 2018, he suggested that slavery was “a choice”, while his failed 2020 presidential bid allegedly violated fundraising rules.

He married Kim Kardashian in 2014, but the pair filed for divorce in February 2021. They have four children together. Kardashian asked for greater compassion for West as he experienced erratic public behaviour that she implied was triggered by his bipolar disorder.