Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy (2022) - full transcript

[switch clicks]

["Special Lady" playing on TV]

♪ And when she smiled you felt ♪

♪ The sun rose on your shoulder ♪

♪ On your shoulder ♪

♪ She was that acclaim of love ♪

♪ When life grew colder ♪

♪ When life grew colder ♪

♪ Even though sometimes
She'd scold you… ♪

[indistinct chatter]

[laughter]



[woman] I didn't put it in there.

Mee-maw. Big ideas right here.

♪ Wassup, in effect
And it's time to select ♪

♪ 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 ♪

♪ And I'm starting the rhyme
To finish ♪

♪ I will diminish other MCs on the top ten
I bump them ♪

♪ Hey, yo
My name's not Humpty, it's Kanye ♪

♪ And I'm sway in top place
I'm not going back ♪

♪ When I wear the polka dots
'Cause that's what I get ♪

♪ I'm def and I'm fresh
And I am the best ♪

♪ Nothing less can come from West ♪



[woman laughing] Get out of there, Kanye.

[intense music playing]

[Coodie] We got my man, Kanye.
Channel Zero.

I wouldn't be here
if it wasn't for this man.

- [man 1] Coodie.
- [man 2] Coodie on the camera.

[reporter 1] Is there room
for backpack rapper

in Roc-A-Fella's Bentley Hit Parade?

[man 3] He's gonna be one of the greats.
Trust me. The next greats.

[Kanye] ♪ Screaming, "Jesus save me"
You know how the game be ♪

♪ I can't let 'em change me ♪

When I do this album,
with God's blessings,

it shouldn't be no way for me to lose.

[imperceptible]

[people chanting] Kanye! Kanye! Kanye!

[Just] And what's fucked up,

is that when a nigga become great,
people get hate. [echoes]

Thought it was the music. I didn't know.

I didn't know.
I lived and I breathed this shit.

[reporter 2] Who is it that you
would like to say, "I told you so?"

[man 4] Give it up for y'all niggas!
Kanye did it, from Chicago, motherfuckers.

Hey, Kanye!

[Kanye] It was like God saying,

"I'm about to hand you the world."

"Just know, at any time,
I could take it away from you."

[Coodie] Belief is the power

that fuels your purpose.

[Kanye] ♪ Slice like a pizza ♪

[Coodie] From where our story
first began in Chicago,

to the dream that pushed him
to move to New York.

My first year documenting Kanye West

was much more
than I could have ever imagined.

And when he landed a deal
with Roc-A-Fella Records,

the real work was about to begin.

[Dame] Thank y'all for coming.

A lot of things going on in Roc-A-Fella.

All right, so let's do some questions.

[Coodie] I heard you mention
a new artist, Kanye West.

What's some of your plans for him?

I mean, Kanye is definitely a Roc-A-Fella.

He's an entrepreneur.

He's promoting himself as we speak.

[Coodie] The lighting is great.

[indistinct chatter]

Wanna share that look, fool?

Face fat as fuck.

Can you hold this for a second?

[Dame] Every time I see him,
he has somebody with him.

He has a fucking camera with him.

And he does really good music.

Kanye, why don't you come up
and answer the question?

Whatever he wants to do, he can do.

Yo, I definitely think I'm bringing,
uh, an entire new market

to Roc-A-Fella. 'Cause I rap
the exact image that I look like.

What I go through.
And a lot of people be like,

"Damn. I actually go through that."

I'm not in the streets like that.
I'm not really that rich.

[Coodie] I'm driving this.
I'm driving that.

Kanye, you about to get them keys.

So you brought my man a Benz, huh?

- His G-Wagon.
- [Coodie] Yeah.

[car dealer] 12,000 a month?

[Kanye] Because I went through
the struggle of being broke,

I'm like anybody sitting here.

I got to work him up to
the new car we're getting, the Maybach.

It starts at 300.

[Coodie] 300?

He'll be able to
get it next year, for sure.

'Cause I feel like it's a market.

I feel like we gonna go ten million
with what I've got to say.

[Dame] We should all give him
a big round of applause.

[applause]

[imperceptible]

[Coodie] Thing was, even though Kanye
was finally a Roc-A-Fella artist,

it still felt like he was on the sideline

trying to figure out
how to get into the game.

People know about the beats, but to me…

I love doing beats. I ain't frontin',

but that was like an internship for me.

I ain't the number one producer.
I'm a rapper.

Put me in the ranks of the rappers.

[Coodie] He made it this far,
but he still had a lot to prove

if he was ever gonna get
his moment to shine.

[indistinct chatter]

[man 1] Let's go!

[indistinct chatter]

Let's go! Let's go!

♪ Peedi, Peedi
I heard that they got your number ♪

♪ The alias you've been living under
The mack goes… ♪

[rapping indistinctly]

[Coodie] What're you saying, Ye?

I don't know yet.

♪ Now one's for Peedi Crakk
Two's for Free ♪

♪ Three for Young Gunna
And four for Sig ♪

♪ You know it's SP
Yes, we above of those things ♪

- [music stops]
- Cut.

[scattered cheering]

[indistinct chatter]

I'm saying
the best rapper-producer in the game.

I'm cosigning here. Look, Gary.
"Big Face" Gary, Roc-A-Fella.

I'm cosigning. Best rapper-producer
in the fucking game.

It means nothing to be
the best rapper-producer...

- It means a lot.
- It don't. 'Em niggas is weak.

If you say "best rapper-producer,"
he get mad at me.

I keep saying best rapper-producer.
He mad.

No, man.
That's like saying, "best kid rapper."

Or the "best female emcee."

Well, Kan, they don't know about you.

No. [hesitates]

Wherever I'm at
with all the other rappers…

If I'm the 50th rapper, I'm a rapper.

Fuck producing.

I'm two different persons...

Wanna know about your beats?
Fuck your beats.

I'm saying I do beats,
but I'm competing against these niggas.

I ain't trying to compete
against no producers.

I'm listening to what Hov doing.

Can I get a beat?

He's giving his beats now.

Producer on our label,
I ain't get a beat from him yet.

Hey, Peedi. C'mon man.

This Peedi. This his first debut.

[indistinct chatter]

[Coodie] The reality was,
a rapper like Peedi Crakk

was a great fit for Roc-A-Fella's image.

And deal or no deal,
the label still saw Kanye

as a producer first.

[Gary] What's going on here?

This song
gonna break Peedi Crakk wide open.

Dame want his album already.

My man Kanye
want to go to LA and work with him.

Give him some heat.

[Mac] Well, me too!

Okay. Well, we all going!

We going to LA, Mac. We going to LA.

[Coodie] But even though
the Roc was trying to box him in,

Kanye made sure
to create opportunities for himself.

So while Jay-Z was in the studio
working on Blueprint 2,

Kanye asked Jay if he could spit a verse

with the hopes
of being featured on the album.

If he couldn't convince Jay-Z
that he can really rap,

Roc-A-Fella might not ever
take him seriously as an artist.

[Kanye rapping]

♪ Billboard popstar
Neighborhood block star ♪

♪ Chi-Town go-gettin' pimps
We mobsters ♪

♪ Gingerbread Man even said
"You're a monster!" ♪

♪ Remember that, uh-huh
That's that straight shit ♪

♪ You niggas wack as fuck… ♪

I gotta make it
closer together after that.

♪ Got tracks to go
Platinum and gold ♪

♪ Yeah, that's the flow
All I… ♪

How does the other one go?

Just start over. Do it again. Do it again.

That part in the middle?

That rhyme right there is the shit.
It just needs a start.

♪ Magazines call me a rock star
Girls call me cock star ♪

♪ Billboard popstar
Neighborhood block star ♪

♪ Chi-Town go-gettin' pimps
We mobsters ♪

♪ Gingerbread Man even said
"You're a monster!" ♪

♪ Yeah, that's how I feel ♪

♪ To be down you must appeal ♪

♪ To the crew
We're rated R ♪

♪ O-C, OG, Bobby Johnson, Que's son ♪

♪ Ask me, "Ray-Ray, is that yo' car?" ♪

♪ "I seen MTV
I know who you are" ♪

♪ "You did Takeover
Do you got beef with Nas?" ♪

♪ I did take over the game
Brought back the soul ♪

♪ Got tracks to go
Got plaques that's gold ♪

♪ Platinum and gold
Yeah, that's the flow ♪

♪ All I know
I gots to blow ♪

♪ And I don't play pause
I'm from Chicago ♪

[indistinct chatter]

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Magazines call 'em a rock star
Girls call 'em cock star ♪

♪ Billboard popstar
Neighborhood block star ♪

♪ Chi-Town go-getting pimps
We mobsters ♪

♪ Gingerbread Man even said
"You're a monster!" ♪

♪ Yeah, that's how I feel ♪

♪ To be down, you must appeal… ♪

One more time. You started…
On the third one you started feeling it.

Start from the top.

♪ Cock star, rock star ♪

You know what I'm saying? Feel that shit.

[Kanye singing indistinctly]

[music playing]

♪ Yeah, oh, yeah ♪

♪ Magazines call him a rock star
Girls call him cock star ♪

♪ Billboard popstar
Neighborhood block ♪

♪ Chi-Town… ♪

- Yeah.
- That was it.

♪ Gingerbread Man even said
"You're a monster!" Yeah ♪

That was it though.

Aight.

♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Magazines call him
Girls call him ♪

♪ 'Zines call him
Girls call him ♪

♪ Billboard, neighborhood ♪

♪ Got tracks to go
Platinum and gold ♪

- You know what I'm saying?
- Yeah.

Aight.

♪ I did take over the game
Brought back the soul ♪

♪ Got tracks to go
Got plaques that's gold ♪

♪ Platinum and gold
Yeah, that's the flow ♪

♪ All I know
I gots to blow ♪

♪ And I don't play pause
I'm from Chicago ♪

The 30-minute assassin.

[laughter]

Closed mouth don't get fed.

You wouldn't have said nothing,
you wouldn't have been on that.

Just a long-ass way from…

fucking rapping in my mama's crib.

[chuckling]

[imperceptible]

[Coodie] For years, everybody told Kanye
to just stick to the beats.

Now he had a feature

with one of the greatest emcees
to ever touch the mic.

Jay, whatchu got to say about Ye West?

Ye West! Hot! Fire!

- Put my money on him. [chuckles]
- [Coodie] Aight.

That cosign from Jay-Z was huge.

And next, Dame Dash
had Kanye produce and rap

on the single for Roc-A-Fella's
Paid in Full soundtrack.

[Dame] Goddamn, Kanye.
I bet niggas didn't know you could rap.

This the producer on the Roc.
He rap better than most rappers!

♪ Well, Dame, if these niggas thought
About they self for a change ♪

♪ Then maybe they can figure out
How to get they self some change ♪

♪ I done seen jealousy
Make niggas do terrible things ♪

♪ How'd that song go I did with Hov?
Oh, yeah, shit'll never change ♪

♪ Not to worry, though
We are the champions ♪

♪ Do a lot of beats you can't be on ♪

♪ Make it street, but it just might pop
Make it straight to the mountaintop ♪

♪ Had the Chi on lock
When they heard I signed with Roc ♪

♪ Came in the game, changed it again
Changed everything, yeah ♪

♪ If you feeling this here
Throw your fucking hands in the air ♪

[Coodie] Now that he finally had
Jay-Z's and Dame's attention,

Kanye was excited to keep working
on his debut album, The College Dropout.

But first, Roc-A-Fella sent him to LA
to work on that music for Peedi Crakk.

We thought it would be a quick trip.

But then I got the news
that would change everything.

Hip-hop producer Kanye West
was injured when his car crashed

in West Hollywood, Los Angeles,
early Wednesday morning.

[reporter continues indistinctly]

[Coodie] Kanye was
driving back to his hotel

after a late-night studio session

when he crashed his car.

[glass shatters]

And almost lost his life.

[man] With God's blessings…

[Donda] You need an angel
to watch over you.

[Coodie] I was relieved
when Mama West called me

and said that Kanye survived.

But when she told me
he broke his jaw in three places…

[EKG beeping]

…I was afraid he would never rap again.

[Kanye] I'm a motherfucking rapper.

I got some songs in my heart.

[Coodie] It felt like everything
he'd worked so hard for…

was over.

[man] Kanye!

[indistinct chatter]

[EKG beeping]

[phone ringing]

[Coodie] A few weeks later,
Kanye called me.

With his mouth wired shut.

And I was shocked when he started rapping
a new song over the phone,

called "Through the Wire."

Because of the pain he was in,
the doctors had urged him not to travel.

But they couldn't stop him from working.

The way he saw it, the music he was making
for his album was life-changing.

And he told me he needed me in LA.

I was on a plane the next day.

[camcorder beeps]

[woman] Before we get started,
we want to send

a shout-out to music producer Kanye West.

He's fine, but he was in a car accident.
So we just want to send him our best.

We hope he gets better soon.
And keeps doing those hot beats.

[rap song playing over speakers]

[Kanye] I got some old-school shit.
We gonna make it look hot though.

Yo, Greg.

You want to just chill here?
We just going to the dentist.

Do you want to chill here?
'Cause we going to the dentist!

- My teeth are all fucked up.
- [Coodie] Mmm-mmm.

Missing a bracket here.

[Coodie] Oh, shit.

I'm going to
this wack-ass dentist right now,

which got referred to me
by Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

- [Coodie] What's up, shorty?
- What type of camera is that?

- Wait. A Canon...
- Canon GL1.

You use MiniDVs?

- Yeah.
- You good with Final Cut Pro?

I mean…
Like, I'm not good at editing, but…

- You good… Okay.
- [Coodie] But I…

I'm a good director.

[woman] Okay.

[Coodie] Where your picture at, Kanye?

[Kanye] I'm still working.

[humming]

- [dentist 1] Why are you filming?
- [Coodie] This is my documentary.

[dentist 1] No. We're gonna take
the wires out for you, right?

- Yeah.
- You're gonna film that?

Yeah, what's wrong?

- [chuckles] You cannot do that.
- Why not?

- No. Because...
- It's illegal?

[dentist 1] Yeah.

For real?

Your jaw surgery should not be, um…

cannot be done until your jaw heals,
which takes a couple of months.

[Kanye] You told me three weeks last time.

No. I did not say…

Three weeks is…
Well, I mean, it's healed in terms of…

It is sticking. But it's not healed enough
to rebreak the jaw to fix the teeth.

You see what I'm saying?

[Kanye] All right.

- You're not "healed" healed.
- Yeah.

In my opinion,
you should have physical therapy

to get the jaw mobilized. That is job one.

Because, unfortunately,
your jaw is broken way up high here.

- All right.
- Okay?

So if you don't mobilize it,
it's gonna get stuck.

Let me see your bite.

Let me just take a bite.

[Kanye] I, uh…
I have a video shoot in January.

[dentist 1] You have video shoot
in January? Okay.

I was supposed to have one in December,

but will my mouth look somewhat normal?

- Even though my bite is off.
- Well, that is not possible.

That will not be possible.

Bite. All the way.
Good. Keep it like that. Don't open.

[Kanye humming]

[dentist 1] Okay.

You won't be able
to get your jaw fixed in January.

So, you know, I mean…

You can have a video shoot.
You're having one now.

Right?

But I wanna have one when I look good.

- You look pretty good.
- [chuckles]

You look good enough.

I wanna be to my fullest.

- Okay? All right?
- [Kanye] All right.

[Coodie] Your video period
can be a lot of the documentary.

- We could do one...
- "Through the Wire."

What I'm thinking is we do one right now.

'Cause, this little… Taking this off
looks like I'm taking the wires off.

- You know what I'm saying?
- Yeah.

It look like they putting 'em on.

Yeah. You could put that shot and
that little talking there in the video.

It could show him talking…

Have little excerpts over the chorus part?

- [Coodie] Mmm-hmm.
- [dentist 1] Open a little bit for me.

Believe me. The wider you open,
the less you feel.

Just a little pinch here.

Don't move. Relax. Relax your face.

You okay?

Almost done with the shots. Okay?

[Coodie] "He crying on TV?"

Yeah, crying on TV. What's this? You know?

All your fans expect you not to cry.
Expect you to be brave. You know?

Okay.

Okay. We'll let you rest here for a while.

I have to go, so the other doctor
will take it out for you. Okay?

- [Kanye] That's pretty good.
- [dentist 1] Hmm?

Okay.

[muffled] I can't even talk.

- [Coodie] Damn, your shit numb?
- Mmm-hmm.

[dentist 2] If you feel it,
let me know. Okay?

[grunts]

[speaking indistinctly]

You know what I'm saying?

[Coodie chuckling] No.
We don't know what you're saying.

[dentist 2] It's coming out.

[emotional music playing]

Coming through.

Okay.

- [Kanye] Can I keep these?
- [dentist 2] Yeah.

Why don't we wash them off
and give them to you? All right?

No. My mother wants
to keep the blood on them.

- [dentist 2] Hmm?
- My mama wants to keep the blood on them.

- [dentist 2] What for?
- That's just how she wants them.

- [dentist 2] Who?
- My mama. My mother.

- [dentist 2] Your who?
- My mother.

She saves this stuff.

[Coodie] Feeling like
he had just a small window of time

to get his career to the next level,

it was hard for Kanye to face the reality
that his recovery would take so long.

Despite the frustration and pain,

he was determined to make the best of it.

[indistinct chatter]

Now picture this
with gums around it though.

And then they're fangs.

I'mma fuck this up right here.

[man] That's gonna come off.

- Don't let go when you pull it out.
- That shit was shaked a lot.

[man] Hold on to it.

- Yeah. It ain't gonna pop.
- Whoo!

[indistinct chatter]

Man, we is big ballers.
We go out with the best.

[laughter]

[speaking indistinctly]

- [Coodie] How you doing?
- You guys ready?

Let me get cheese fries
with Cajun fries under the cheese.

With more cheese than normal.
A lot of cheese.

Get me the mashed potatoes
with the country gravy.

And that is all.

I already eaten corn and potatoes today.

Man, I lost a lot of weight. I feel good.

I gotta be lifting
my shirt up around here.

[indistinct chatter]

You know, I lost a lot of weight.

[laughter]

- Let me see.
- [Coodie] Look.

They played a nigga, dawg.

I'm like,
"I'm motherfucking Coodie, nigga."

"Channel motherfucking Zero."

I'm like,
"Nigga, you don't know Channel Zero?"

That motherfucker said, "No."

[laughter]

I said, "Well, I was on BET."

[laughter]

[Kanye] What's this nigga
doing right there?

UCLA students right there.

[Coodie] Let me see.
Y'all see A Beautiful Mind?

[woman laughing]

[indistinct chatter]

[Coodie] Some more cheese?

See, I can't really chew
'cause I was in an accident.

- So they gotta melt this down some more.
- [waitress] Melt it?

[waitress laughing]

[man] Go over there
and get a magazine called Mass Appeal.

Just take your time and fan through it
until you see a full page ad on him.

And then you're gonna realize.

We believe you! [chuckles]

[man] Find out who that dude is,

'cause we want y'all
to get the album when it comes out.

For real.

College students.

[Coodie] Stay in school.
Don't drop out like Kanye did.

[Coodie] Since I had gotten to LA,
I barely had time to put my bags down

and we were already on the move.

After the accident,

Roc-A-Fella put The College Dropout
on the shelf.

We didn't know when
they were going to release it.

But Kanye was motivated more than ever.

So he called in favors
to at least get the album recorded.

[Kanye] We can load it up.
Track number two.

Y'all have the light dimmed or something?

- How do you say it? Kanye...
- Kanye.

- Kanye?
- Yeah.

[man] You got a title for it?

Um… Yeah. Call it "Slow Jamz."

Hey, Foxx.
Tell him what your concept is, Kanye.

- [Jamie] What?
- Here it is.

[Kanye] My concept for the song…
They gonna say…

The girls will be like,

"I feel this concept and this rapping."

"But sometimes I need, um…"

"I need some slow shit.
I need some dusties."

- "I need some…"
- [Jamie] Whoo!

- We just got through talking about this!
- That's what I told him.

[Coodie] That's the whole shit.

[woman] ♪ Are you gonna be ♪

♪ Say that you're gonna be… ♪

[speaking indistinctly]

[Kanye] ♪ Luther Vandross ♪

♪ A little Anita
Will definitely set this party off right ♪

[woman] ♪ Gonna be, gonna be, gonna be ♪

♪ Gonna be ♪

[Kanye] ♪ I told her to come over
In your new whip ♪

♪ Bring some friends you cool with ♪

♪ I'mma bring the Cool Whip ♪

♪ Then I want you to strip ♪

♪ See you is my new bitch
So we get our grind on ♪

♪ She be grabbin'
Callin' me Biggie like Shyne home ♪

♪ Man, I swear she fine, homes
Why she always lyin' though? ♪

♪ Telling me them diamonds
When she know they rhinestones ♪

♪ When I get my mind going… ♪

- [speaking indistinctly]
- [laughter]

[Jamie scatting]

[Jamie over microphone] ♪ Marvin Gaye
Luther Vandross ♪

Marvin Gaye. Luther Vandross. Whatever.

[Kanye] ♪ A little Anita will definitely
Set this party off right ♪

[Jamie] Yeah. Feed me some more. Listen.

She wants some Oran "Juice" Jones?
Wanna hit 'em with Oran "Juice" Jones?

What we gonna hit 'em with?
How far we gonna go?

[laughter]

We got Oran "Juice" Jones.
We got to hit the Keith Sweat.

[Kanye] You say whatever
that comes to your mind.

♪ Came by my crib
Said, "We gonna turn off the lights" ♪

All right. I got it.

[Jamie] ♪ Enter my crib
Said, "We gonna turn off the lights" ♪

♪ Back when they used to say, "Oh!" ♪

[Jamie vocalizing]

[music playing over speakers]

[woman] ♪ Say that you're gonna be… ♪

[Jamie] ♪ She said she want
Some Marvin Gaye ♪

♪ Some Luther Vandross ♪

♪ A little Anita will definitely
Set this party off right ♪

[woman] ♪ Gonna be, gonna be, gonna be… ♪

♪ Well, well… ♪

♪ Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson ♪

♪ Freddie Jackson ♪

♪ Everything, everything ♪

[recording playing]

[Jamie] ♪ Kanye, it's Foxx, man ♪

♪ I'm just saying
I was talkin' to the girls, you know ♪

♪ We don't put enough emphasis
on the ladies sometimes ♪

♪ I was talking to this girl
She said the music all fast in the club ♪

♪ She gotta drink water
'Cause she thirsty ♪

♪ She done danced
Like 9,200 songs back-to-back ♪

♪ But ain't nobody really try to find out
What she feeling ♪

♪ How she feel
You know what she told me? ♪

[woman] ♪ Are you gonna be… ♪

[Jamie] ♪ Check it out
This is what she said ♪

[woman] ♪ Say that you're gonna be… ♪

[Jamie] ♪ She said she want
Some Marvin Gaye ♪

♪ Some Luther Vandross ♪

♪ A little Anita will definitely
Set this party off right ♪

[Coodie] It was amazing
to be filming at Jamie Foxx's house

while he laid down a hook for "Slow Jamz."

Thank God he had his studio in his crib

because Roc-A-Fella
wouldn't open up Kanye's recording budget.

So to keep making his album,

he had to borrow studio time
from other artists whenever he could.

[indistinct chatter]

[Kanye] Uh, Pharrell's supposed
to give us ten minutes with Luda.

- [man 1] Yeah.
- [Kanye] Um…

We haven't heard anything
about you guys using...

[Kanye] You only have to let me
use one for ten minutes.

- I have no idea what's going on.
- All right.

[man 2] How are you? Chilling?

[Kanye] Yo, where's Luda at?

He was in here.

He might have moved back to the whip.
We're looking for him too.

[Coodie] They said
in the back studio or somewhere?

Ain't nobody in there.

Usually, when I come here,
it would be Ludacris here.

He be sitting there waiting for me.

I don't know what's up
with this situation right here.

Y'all have to look around.

What's your name?

- Aaron.
- I'm Kanye West.

I'm a producer.
I produce for Roc-A-Fella. I did…

♪ Me and my girlfriend… ♪

♪ H to the Izzo… ♪

You ever heard that song?

Yeah. I produced all those joints.

- Cool.
- Yeah.

[Kanye in sing-song] Damn, damn, damn!

Oh! Nigga was stalling.

[speaking indistinctly]

Don't mind the cameras.

I'm gonna do it in the studio.
I'm trying to finish writing.

I'mma try and get a shot at it.

- Tell Poon to come get me when he's ready.
- All right.

["Breathe In Breathe Out"
playing over speakers]

♪ Breathe out ♪

I gotta get that shit, right?
'Cause when I say, uh…

Kanye West, one of the top-notch producers
and top-notch rappers in the game.

I ain't gonna lie to you.
He surprised the shit out of me.

So believe that, man.

Everybody know about his production.
They about to find out about his skills.

And believe me, the nigga got skills.

I ain't lying.
That's coming from me all day.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

- Say your name. Um…
- [beat playing]

And this is Luda. Velvet Jones.

Max Headroom.

Bronze Bridges.

Whatever the hell
you wanna call my stinking name.

["Breathe In Breathe Out" playing]

[vocalizing]

♪ Breathe in, breathe out ♪

♪ If you're iced up
Pull your sleeves out ♪

♪ Push a big truck, pull your keys out ♪

♪ Girls go wild and pull your D's out ♪

♪ Breathe in, breathe out ♪

♪ Let them hoes fight, pull a weave out ♪

♪ If a nigga act up
Pull a Desert E's out ♪

♪ When I pull the piece out
Niggas like, "Peace out!" ♪

- All right, fam. I'll be back.
- [Coodie] Peace.

[Ludacris] All right, boy!

I'mma see y'all.

So, you said, uh, Pharrell…
They just doing other records right now?

[indistinct chatter]

[Kanye] They might not
let us tape and shit.

- [Coodie] Huh?
- [Kanye] Turn it off?

[Coodie] Let it roll, man. Fuck it.
If they tell us to stop it we stop.

What up, boy?

- [rap song playing over speakers]
- I can't wait to hear your shit, man.

[Kanye] I'mma spit this one.
I can put one on for y'all.

For "Me and My Girlfriend."
Know how 50 be taking that song?

If I said…

♪ If you was my girlfriend
You don't need no guy friend ♪

♪ He could get his head bust
Nigga ain't my friend ♪

♪ Why the hell you lying?
Who the hell you trying? ♪

♪ Who the hell you know that
Threw away his throwbacks ♪

♪ Second they suggested
They was made by Majestic ♪

♪ My answers cost 350
Ya nah'mean? ♪

♪ Y'all don't even got her number
We ain't on the same team ♪

♪ I'm talking about when we was
In Nissans, no Benz and such ♪

♪ We wasn't from Switzerland
But we'll still go Dutch ♪

♪ Greater man could prob picture
Like there go us ♪

♪ No styles just good times
Like they're so nuts ♪

♪ We always thought if we had dough
We could do so much ♪

♪ Ain't have to save the roach
You can finish the Dutch ♪

♪ Ain't have to go coach
Told you I'll be paid soon ♪

♪ We ain't got to sit in
The emergency aisle to get leg room ♪

♪ We ain't got to go back to my room
There's only one bedroom ♪

♪ That I call my lair
We was VIP ♪

♪ Very Imaginary Playaz ♪

♪ But you was my girlfriend ♪

Nigga. I didn't know! I didn't know!

[Coodie] I still do the emergency aisle
every so often,

- so I feel you.
- I didn't know.

I didn't know.
I didn't know. I didn't know.

I just thought it was the music.
I didn't know.

I just thought it was the music.
I didn't know.

I didn't know.

You on some shit.

[laughter]

This guy is like… I'm so impressed.

Let me…

Before I leave,
let me play "Through the Wire" for you

to see your reaction.

I want all y'all reactions.

- No problem.
- It's talking about the accident.

I made so many decisions sitting up
in that hospital for seven days.

To just decipher
between the bullshit in my life

and the direction I needed to go in.

["Through the Wire" playing]

♪ Yo, Gee, they can't stop me from rapping
Can they? Can they, Hop? ♪

♪ Through the fire
To the limit, to the wall ♪

♪ I spit it through the wire, man ♪

♪ For a chance to be with you ♪

♪ There's too much stuff
On my heart right now, man ♪

♪ I'd gladly risk it all right now ♪

♪ Through the fire, through whatever
Come what may ♪

♪ It's a life-or-death situation, man ♪

♪ Y'all don't really understand
How I feel right now, man ♪

♪ It's your boy Kanye to the… ♪

♪ Chi-Town, what's goin' on? ♪

♪ Even through the fire… ♪

♪ I drink a Boost for breakfast
An Ensure for dessert ♪

♪ Somebody ordered pancakes
I just sip the sizzurp ♪

- [volume lowers]
- My mouth was wired up at the time.

♪ …a sane man berserk ♪

♪ Not to worry, Mr. H-to-the-Izzo's
Back to wizzerk ♪

♪ How do you console my mom
Or give her light support ♪

♪ When you telling her
Her son's on life support? ♪

♪ And just imagine how my girl feel ♪

♪ On the plane scared as hell
That her guy look like Emmett Till ♪

♪ I must got a angel
'Cause look how death missed his ass ♪

♪ Unbreakable, what, you thought
They'd call me Mr. Glass? ♪

♪ Look back on my life like
The Ghost of Christmas Past ♪

♪ Toys "R" Us where I used to spend
That Christmas cash ♪

♪ And I still won't grow up
I'm a grown-ass kid ♪

♪ Swear I should be locked up
For stupid shit that I did ♪

♪ But I'm a champion
So I turned tragedy to triumph ♪

♪ Make music that's fire
Spit my soul through the wire ♪

Through the wire?

♪ When the doctors told me I had to… ♪

[laughter]

♪ I said, "Dawg, don't you realize
I'll never make it on a plane now?" ♪

[continues indistinctly]

[Pharrell] "Through the Wire"?

- Do you know that's what he was saying?
- Yeah. His shit was wired up.

Did you get that in the beginning?

He said he got to be rapping
through this wire. I heard it.

Hey, hey…

Nigga, that shit is phenomenal.

- You think so?
- That shit is…

- [man] You got me.
- You one of my favorite artists.

[Kanye] Oh, shit. Good looking.

For real. That's real. That's real.

And I only heard like two records.

You gonna make it. And when you make it,
keep the same perspective.

Still keep the same hunger.
You know what I mean?

That hunger is to always be…

"Man, I feel something.
I gotta go put it down."

And you put it down.

As long as you keep that…

The conduit between
those two places clear,

for that energy to come through,

you gonna always be ill
for the rest of your life.

I can tell when a nigga is really hot.

But I can tell when they have
the potential to become complacent.

[Kanye] Mmm-hmm.

You do not have that.
But the only thing I'm saying is that…

Once niggas tell you you hot,
still doubt yourself.

[Kanye] Yeah.

[emotional music playing]

[Coodie] Very rarely do you encounter

self-contained people.

And not, "I can do everything myself."

This man can do everything himself.

That is truly gifted.

The fact that this nigga chose

to highlight

this crazy, catastrophic thing
that happened to him about six weeks ago,

that's real right there.

He living it.

♪ I'm tryna to catch the beat
Don't you wanna… ♪

♪ Now, throw your motherfucking hands ♪

♪ All the girls pass the weed
To your motherfucking man ♪

♪ If you have…
Throw your motherfucking hands ♪

♪ All the girls pass the weed
To your motherfucking man ♪

["Get Em High" playing]

[Kanye] ♪ W-H-I-T
It's getting late, mami ♪

♪ Your screensaver say tweet
So I need you to call me ♪

- Hold on.
- [music stops]

The bling. This the bling ching.

- Same punch.
- [music continues]

I feel like I'm the first of the hybrid

of the ice in a backpack.

When I figured out… I had that accident
and I almost died and everything.

So I was sitting up in a hospital bed
for the first seven days.

And I was just be watching TV, man.

I just came to some revelation.

People were like,
"You almost died. What came from this?"

And I just sit back and just decided
that I was gonna be the best…

The best-dressed rapper in the game.

Because I was watching nigga's gear.

It's like crazy wack, you know?

♪ Keep 'em high ♪

♪ Now, my flow ♪

♪ Is in the pocket like wallets
I got the bounce like hydraulics ♪

♪ I can't call it
I got the swerve like alcoholics ♪

♪ My freshman year
I was going through hella problems ♪

♪ Still I built up the nerve
To drop my ass up outta college ♪

People used to tell me not to rap.

Now, if I don't got the best voice
and I don't have this hard image,

or I don't have a jail record or whatever.

Some people are saying
these are reasons why I can't rap.

Rap, for me, is just an extension

of the expression
I got from doing my music.

I can only express about 50%.

It's ideas that I have
that I can't make Jay-Z do.

So I'm going there like,

"How can even Kevin Liles
tell me that I can't be a rapper?"

But he don't realize what I have in me.

I have the ability to learn.

I might not learn myself
up into DMX status by that time.

But believe me,

if I'm sitting in the studio with Jay-Z
and Ludacris and Scarface every day,

you think I'mma learn?

You think my beats sounded
like Blueprint when I started?

I'm saying, this is the point I'm at.

You can give me a deal for
200-something thousand dollars now

and I'mma make you $10 million later.
Or you can wait. You know what I'm saying?

'Cause what Def Jam does…
They wait until you proving yourself.

[Coodie] But waiting wasn't an option.

We needed to get Roc-A-Fella's attention.

And the best way to do that

was to get the world
to know Kanye's story.

We knew a music video
for "Through the Wire" could do just that.

One idea for the video
was for me to capture people's reactions

while Kanye rapped the song to them
for the first time.

["Through the Wire" playing over stereo]

[Kanye] Did you get that? Hit record?

[Coodie] Yeah.

[Kanye] Now this is the video right here.

[DeRay] This the video?

♪ I drink a Boost for breakfast
An Ensure for dessert ♪

♪ Somebody ordered pancakes
I just sip the sizzurp ♪

♪ That right there
Could drive a sane man berserk ♪

♪ Not to worry
Mr. H-to-the-Izzo's back to wizzerk ♪

♪ In the same hospital
Where Big and Tupac died ♪

♪ The doctor said I had blood clots ♪

♪ But I ain't Jamaican, man ♪

♪ Story on MTV
And I ain't trying to make a band ♪

♪ I swear this right here
History in the making, man ♪

[song continues]

[DeRay] Whoa, shit!

Nigga, that ain't never been done before!

That's big business.
That ain't never done before.

You made me wanna get in an accident.

Rapping about my broke arm.

♪ Without a arm I spit
Without a arm I spit ♪

♪ Without a arm I spit, my nigga hold it ♪

Always spitting!

- [song continues]
- [laughter]

Man, you spitting better
than niggas with they mouth open.

[song continues playing faintly]

[Coodie] Me and DeRay
came up together doing comedy back home.

Chicago is a big part
of all of our stories.

And Kanye wanted
that energy felt on his album.

You want me to specifically write a song
for the kids to sing for graduation?

I was like, "I got the perfect song
for the kids to sing."

[imitating old man] Kanye,
can I talk to you for a minute?

Think you about to do something for
the kids for graduation to sing? [grunts]

- [laughter]
- [man] Damn. He killed that, man.

[Coodie] One thing
about us guys from the Chi,

whenever we crossed paths in other cities,

we did what we could
to help each other win.

["The Bounce" playing over speakers]

- Hey, fast-forward. Jay-Z already made it.
- [song stops]

Fast-forward to my man.

[over speakers]
♪ Magazines call me a rock star ♪

♪ Girls call me cock star ♪

♪ Billboard pop star
Neighborhood block star ♪

♪ Chi-Town go-gettin' pimps, we mobsters ♪

♪ Gingerbread Man
Even says, "You're a monster" ♪

Welcome to the stage, my boy.

We started comedy together in Chicago.

Coodie, y'all. Give it up for Cood.

[cheers and applause]

[song continues playing]

My mother was one of the strict-ass…

My mother was so strict, we couldn't say
words that wasn't curse word.

You all know?
We couldn't say words like "lie."

- What we had to say? "Telling a story."
- [laughter]

We couldn't say "booty."

We had to say "behind."

We couldn't say "motherfucker."

- [man] Oh.
- [laughter]

We had to say "Daddy."

[laughter]

Hey, y'all,
I just came over to guest, man.

I got my man Kanye West.

I'm directing his video.
We doing a documentary.

He big-time, y'all. Show him love.

My name Coodie. Peace out, man.

[cheers and applause]

[rap song playing faintly over speakers]

[song continues normally]

♪ Get up, I get ♪

♪ Get up, I get down for my grandfather ♪

♪ Who took my mama
Made her sit in that seat ♪

♪ Where white folks ain't want us to eat ♪

♪ At the tender age of six
She was arrested for the sit-ins ♪

♪ With that in my blood
I was born to be different ♪

I'm a lyric critic, right there.

Especially… I be knowing if
they speaking from they soul in that.

Or if they speaking from the books.
That's the whole point of this album.

[J. Ivy] We came to your crib in Jersey.

You was talking about maybe
you can do something on the song, right?

I was thinking…
I'm in my Chicago mentality.

I'm thinking
we'll hook some shit up for later on.

That's just where my head was at.
That's the way I thought, you know?

Coodie was like,
"We gotta act quick, dawg."

So when Coodie made that call,

I wasn't trying to find a way here
and then just sit in the studio.

I need to write this shit right now.

♪ But I get my hymns from Him ♪

♪ So it's not me, it's He that's lyrical ♪

♪ I'm not a miracle
I'm a heaven-sent instrument ♪

♪ My rhythmatic regiment
Navigates melodic notes ♪

♪ For your soul and your mental ♪

♪ That's why I'm instrumental ♪

♪ Vibrations is what I'm into… ♪

[man] Kanye a vibe cat.
He almost run away from a plan.

But if he in the studio
and he vibing and say,

"I want this on there right now,"

that's a motherfucker there
that provide that. It's done.

Manager's like,

"Why can't you
just record it on the Pro Tools

in, uh, New York and then send it off?"

I was like, "Nah, nigga."

[laughter]

Something been created out here.
He's like, "I got to be there."

There's some type of
energy that's going on that

everybody that just walks in the studio…

This shit just be coming
out incredible right now.

[J. Ivy] ♪ I would never
Ever let you down ♪

♪ And when these words are found ♪

♪ Let it be known
That God's penmanship has been signed ♪

♪ With a language called love ♪

♪ That's why my breath
Is felt by the deaf ♪

♪ And while my words are heard
And confined to the ears of the blind ♪

♪ I too dream in color and in rhyme ♪

♪ So I guess
I'm one of a kind in a full house ♪

♪ 'Cause whenever
I open my heart, my soul or my mouth ♪

♪ A touch of God reigns out ♪

[J. Ivy and woman vocalizing]

[Coodie] Whoo!

That shit is serious.

Send those plaques, man.

- Send the plaques, dawg.
- [laughter]

Send the plaques.

[indistinct chatter and laughter]

[emotional music playing]

Man. Crazy, dawg. Crazy.

[Coodie] Everyone that was a part
of The College Dropout

knew we were watching
the making of a classic album.

[choir singing]

[Coodie] We made sure
to enjoy every moment.

But it was frustrating

when Roc-A-Fella
kept refusing to commit to a release date.

And without Dame Dash's support,
nothing was gonna change.

[indistinct chatter]

I know Roots.

[man yelling, speaking indistinctly]

[Kanye] There's my nigga.

[Dame] How are you?

- [Kanye] What's the deal?
- Aight.

Hey, Ashley. Tape him taping me.

[laughing]

[rap song playing]

[singer vocalizing]

Why don't you stand right here
and then you can face all of us?

♪ I get up and I wash real clean ♪

♪ Press the grill and press my jeans ♪

♪ All go to throw to the lugga-lugga ♪

♪ Breakfast down the throat
Chugga-lugga-lugga ♪

♪ The sun shines deadly beams ♪

♪ Make room, man, breeze on the scene ♪

♪ And can I call ladies! ♪

[woman 1] Thanks.

[song stops]

I'm glad y'all happy about it, though.

I just want to see her do well,
you know? [chuckles]

I'm down, so…

If you're down, I'm down.

- We got your lawyer's information.
- Yeah.

♪ But we'll still go Dutch ♪

♪ Greater man could prob picture
Like there go us ♪

♪ No styles, just good times ♪

♪ Like they're so nuts ♪

♪ We always thought
If we had dough we could do so much ♪

♪ Like you ain't got to save the roach
We can finish the Dutch ♪

♪ Like we ain't have to go coach
Told you I'll be paid soon ♪

♪ We ain't got to sit
In this emergency aisle ♪

♪ Just to get leg room ♪

♪ We ain't got to go back to my room
There's only one bedroom ♪

♪ That I call my lair
We was VIP, Very Imaginary Playaz ♪

♪ But you was my girlfriend
Yeah, you was my girlfriend ♪

♪ Holla, all I need in this life of sin ♪

♪ Is me and my girlfriend… ♪

[song stops]

[woman 2] That was some funny shit.

[laughter]

[man] He is right there.

[indistinct chatter]

[Dame] I'm gonna roll out.
Y'all can stay though.

Come on, Bigg.

[Coodie] We could all feel it.

Kanye's album
wasn't a priority to Roc-A-Fella.

Despite all the great music
he was creating,

it felt like the accident
had killed all the momentum

he had built with the Roc.

Leaving him back
to making beats to support his career.

[woman 1 singing]

[woman 2] ♪ I'm all crushed, setbacks ♪

♪ I'll do a comeback ♪

♪ Taking stride
Love the devotion ♪

♪ Don't confide… ♪

[man] Kanye, the song is coming together.

Yeah, I mean,
these guys can do everything. I'm just…

[speaking indistinctly]

Where they at?
Do they have the room set up?

Uh, they're back here. Let's see.

[pop song playing over speakers]

[indistinct chatter]

[man] Nappy Roots studio.

With Kanye West.

Fish Scales,
Prophet, Big V holding it down.

[hip-hop music playing over speakers]

♪ Seek someone damn good
When you say they come again ♪

♪ Give 'em a call next month
Let's see if they'll come again ♪

♪ Po' folks, so divide us
The critics recognize us ♪

♪ Two or three groups fly
Kinda be just like us ♪

♪ Speak it and then proud ♪

♪ Say it loud and proud ♪

♪ We ain't afraid ♪

- Bring it back.
- [music stops]

- [Fish Scales] What is this?
- [Coodie] Kanye's documentary.

What is it anyway? What's it for?

"Through the Wire." For the video,
we just use pieces of the documentary.

- That's dope.
- Yeah.

- We told him.
- Yeah.

We got this part with Pharrell.
He hear the song and he just go crazy.

Ran out the room
and start singing… [muttering]

"Through the wire."
But it looked ill on the camera.

We got this one comedian DeRay, he's like,

"Man, you made me
wanna get in an accident."

♪ "Without a arm I spit
Without a arm I spit" ♪

♪ "Without a arm I spit
My nigga hold it" ♪

[Coodie] Now that we had all the scenes
for the "Through the Wire" video,

we needed help pulling off the vision.

So we reached out to Chike Ozah,

a director and graphic artist
who we met in the halls of MTV,

to help us make it happen.

[Chike] Trying to do a good job
between me, Coodie and Kanye,

that we're on the same exact page.

I cannot find anyone
to redo my logo for me.

I went to art school
and now I don't know any artists.

[Chike] Any artists.

[man 1] Let's look at the storyboards.

See what we got.

[man 2] Silent in three, dawg.

- [faint laughter]
- [man 2] Quiet on the set, please.

[faint chatter]

[Coodie] Hey, light… Light, folks.

[chuckling] Went for hours and hours
'cause he ran out of money and time.

Gotta call it a wrap.

No, we gotta get it right, Chike.
Come on. This is it. This is the one.

["Through the Wire" playing over speakers]

[song fades]

[pensive music playing]

[Coodie] That's how it go.

- Chike.
- Yo.

[Coodie] Was some old shot
of Pharrell. He dancing.

Then it pull out.

When it pull out like this Pharrell
will end up over there or something.

'Cause it's the motion that's…
And you see this.

Action.

[Coodie] Knowing he couldn't
rely on the label,

Kanye did everything in his power
to build his own buzz.

Um…

Aight, this my demo for Def Poetry Jam.

I'm gonna start off with this joint I got,
it's called "Self-Conscious."

This my next selection.
It's called "Hey, Mama."

And hopefully,
y'all can help me out with it.

♪ Hey, Mama ♪

- Let's try it out.
- [phone ringing]

Man. Will you turn your phone off, man?

♪ I wanna act ballerific
Like it's all terrific ♪

♪ I got a couple past-due bills ♪

♪ Won't get specific ♪

♪ I got a problem with spending
Before I get it ♪

♪ We all self-conscious
I'm just the first to admit it ♪

[continues indistinctly]

[Coodie] More than money or fame,

what Kanye wanted most
was for people to hear the music

that he was making for his album.

[vocalizing]

[Coodie] So he decided
to put together his own mixtapes

to get out to the streets.

[rap song playing faintly over speakers]

["Get By (Remix)" playing]

♪ History
It's happening every day, y'all ♪

- ♪ Right now ♪
- ♪ Every day live, right now ♪

♪ Good morning, Vietnam! ♪

♪ Listen, Brooklyn wins again ♪

♪ It's the Stuy, it's the Bush
Them niggas again ♪

♪ Ta' Kweli, Mighty Def
And S-Dot on the guest lock ♪

♪ Kanye, you're the dopeman of hip-hop ♪

♪ Now let's rock ♪

♪ Now roll out… ♪

- [music stops]
- Yeah. No doubt.

- Peace.
- Thank you, cuh.

- All right, thug.
- [Coodie] Mos, for sure.

[Kanye] I'mma say one rap
while they leaving and shit

'cause I know you about to bounce.

Wait a sec.

- [Mos Def] I love this nigga, man.
- [laughter]

I love this nigga right here, man.

♪ Only got one girl on my agenda ♪

♪ You talking about Brenda? ♪

♪ No, I'm talking about Linda ♪

♪ From last September ♪

♪ Now Linda love lace
Like Linda Lovelace ♪

♪ LaFace says she like Mase ♪

♪ But she love 'Face ♪

♪ Dawg, you ready to give
All this shit up? ♪

♪ The summer's on its way
And these hoes doing sit-ups ♪

♪ And when they see
The way the G-waggy life lit up ♪

♪ You're gonna wanna
Have two like John Ritter ♪

♪ Man, I bought her a brand-new BM ♪

♪ He said "Dawg,
Slow down like Brand Nubian now" ♪

[laughter]

Yo, you should do that shit with me, then.

I wanna do a whole joint with you, man.

West and Def.

- [Kanye] Mos West.
- Mos West.

From Chicago, Illinois, please give it up
for the future of hip-hop, Kanye West.

- [funky music playing]
- [cheers and applause]

[stumbling] This morning,
I spent a lot of, um, time, like,

trying to pick out my outfit
'cause I'm really into clothes.

I'mma be
the best-dressed rapper out in the game.

- [laughter]
- So, uh, you know, I got my…

[panting] I know. What?

♪ I'm so self-conscious ♪

[breathing heavily]

♪ That's why you always see me
With at least one of my watches, uh… ♪

♪ Rollies and Pashas done drove me crazy ♪

♪ I can't even pronounce nothing ♪

♪ Pass that Versa-cee ♪

[laughter]

♪ I said fuck the police ♪

♪ That's how I treat 'em ♪

♪ We bought our way out of jail ♪

♪ But we can't buy freedom ♪

♪ See, we buy a lot of clothes
But we don't really need 'em ♪

[normally] ♪ Things we buy to cover up
What's inside ♪

♪ 'Cause they made us hate ourself ♪

♪ And love they wealth ♪

♪ That's why shorties hollering ♪

♪ "Where the ballers at?" ♪

♪ Drug dealer buy a Jordan ♪

♪ Crack head buy crack ♪

♪ And the white man
Get paid off of all of that ♪

[cheers and applause]

[indistinct chatter]

- A whole lotta…
- [Coodie] Hey, Mama.

Ah…

[Donda laughing]

That's my favorite song.

[man] It sure is.

Kanye, that was
so magnificent what you did.

- [Kanye] For real?
- You snapped.

I'm telling you. You did.

- I was… Did you hear me?
- I did.

I was like,
"Kanye! All right! Give it up!"

[laughing]

You said some heavy
political stuff in between.

Yeah. 'Cause then
everybody thought it was gonna be weak.

But you said,
"I wanna be the best-dressed rapper."

And then you came on
with another whole type of rap.

About, you know, being self-conscious.

Yeah.

It was together.

I was like, "Oh, snap."

[both laughing]

[Coodie] After filming for Def Poetry Jam,

it felt like things were finally starting
to move in the right direction for Kanye.

We were almost done
with the video for "Through the Wire."

And with no budget,

Chike was getting us in at MTV after hours

so we could
use their equipment to finish it.

And I couldn't wait for Mama West
to see what we'd been working on.

Yeah, it's where we shooting the video.

Putting it down.

[Donda] That you on there, huh, Kanye?

[Kanye] This my mother right here.

- Hello.
- [Donda] Hi. Nice to meet you.

What's that you're doing, Kanye?

Which one? Which video is this?

- [Kanye] "Through the Wire."
- [Donda] Oh, really?

Hey, where's that one? The picture
that I took of him with the big jaw?

That.

That's my handiwork, isn't it, Kanye?

- You took that picture?
- [Donda] Yeah.

- [man] It's gonna get in there real nice.
- [laughter]

[Kanye] That's right on the part
about Tom Cruise from Vanilla Sky.

That's when you on there.

Can you make them…
You can't make them move some more?

- [man] Yeah.
- [Coodie] They gonna be moving more.

It's off the beat of the song anyway.
We gotta track it to the song.

[Donda] There's me.

[man] Add more film grain to it
to make it look a little bit more like…

[indistinct chatter]

♪ I want a dog
Has Whoopi Goldberg's gums ♪

♪ Forest Whitaker neck ♪

♪ And I'mma tape it
Put it on videocassette ♪

♪ Then we gonna have sex
And put it on videocassette… ♪

[woman] Turn around, please.

[speaking indistinctly]

♪ My dawg couldn't tell if I
Looked like Tom Cruise on Vanilla Sky ♪

♪ It was televised… ♪

[dentist 1] I need to do
a segmental osteotomy

because his bite is not perfect.

The only way to do that is to break
between the canines and the bicuspids.

He's got plenty of room in there.

- [dentist 2] Yep.
- [dentist 1] Or down here.

We can schedule you for surgery,
but we have to plan on it ahead of time.

So when do you want to do this?

6th of April?

[dentist 1] Well, it can't be that early.

Give me a month or two of advance notice.

[Kanye] For real?

This is one of my main problems.

- How far this sticks out.
- [dentist 1] Hmm.

And it didn't used to stick out like this.

[dentist 1] But we cannot bring that down.

There's no way to bring it in?

'Cause this is messing me up.

You know what I'm saying? Visually.

'Cause I'm an entertainer.

I'm an attractive guy, and this is like…

I'd have to cut over there.

It would leave a scar.

Have to cut over here.
But you'll have a scar here.

- For real?
- And there's the nerves there. It's risky.

You may end up losing facial expression.

- I wouldn't do that.
- Wow.

[emotional music playing]

[Coodie] It had been
five months since the accident.

And after working so hard
to get his career back on track,

we were hoping for some good news.

But the surgery Kanye needed

would put him out of pocket
for way too long.

With all the plans he had
for getting his album out,

he decided not to get the surgery,

knowing he couldn't afford to miss a beat.

[piano music playing]

[men vocalizing]

One, two, three, and…

[all sing]

[man] ♪ Through the wire
Through the limit, to the wall ♪

♪ For a chance to be with you ♪

♪ I'd gladly risk it all ♪

Don't go downward. All right? Right?

Y'all sing your part one time.

One, two, three and…

♪ Through the wire ♪

No. [singing]

[all] ♪ Through the wire ♪

Get the melody.

♪ I'd take it all ♪

Go and learn your parts.

One, two three, and…

♪ Through the wire
Through the limit, to the wall ♪

♪ For a chance to be with you ♪

♪ I'd gladly risk it all ♪

[man] All right. First, you still gotta
watch the timing on the…

♪ For a chance to be with you ♪

All right? Right there. Y'all doing okay.

♪ Through the wire ♪

Let's watch that other note.

♪ Wall ♪

I'm thinking, what if we did
unison for the first lines

and then brought harmony
on the second half of the chorus

and separated it? Like if you said…

♪ Through the wire
Through the limit, to the wall ♪

♪ For a chance to be with you ♪

♪ I'd gladly risk it all ♪

♪ It all, it all, it all ♪

♪ Through the wire ♪

- Then everybody come in…
- [laughter]

♪ I'd gladly risk it all ♪

♪ It all, it all, it all ♪

♪ Through the wire ♪

Y'all holding it too long.

- Watch this. All right?
- [Kanye] Somebody sang "it all."

At "for a chance to be with you."

One, two…

♪ For a chance to be with you ♪

♪ I'd gladly risk it all ♪

♪ It all, it all, it all ♪

♪ Through the wire ♪

♪ To the limit, come what may ♪

♪ What may ♪

♪ For a chance to be with you ♪

♪ I'd throw it all away ♪

♪ Right down to the wire ♪

♪ Even through the fire ♪

[music increases in tempo]

All right. Good.

♪ Through the wire
To the limit, to the wall ♪

♪ For a chance to be with you ♪

♪ I'd gladly risk it all ♪

♪ It all, it all, it all ♪

♪ Through the wire
Though whatever, come what may ♪

[indistinct chatter]

♪ Drug dealing just to get by ♪

♪ Stacking money till it get sky high ♪

Coodie!

[John] Excuse me, please. Quiet down!

Can everybody see the screen?

If you're standing up
and y'all too tall, cop a squat.

This some real family shit.
This some old-school shit.

I know y'all can relate.

Man, I'm happy to see
that everybody came out on one day notice

and make me feel like

I got a lot of love
out here in New York City.

Like how we got back in the Chi.

And I don't know if you know this,

but my album keeps on getting pushed back.

All right.

And I don't know if you know this,
but my marketing budget is now open.

I don't know if you know this,

but they actually haven't paid

for me to even have
the black-and-white shot

that people get
when they originally get signed.

I got signed a year ago.

I don't know if you know that

the reason why I make tracks at this point

is to have enough money
to pay for my T-shirts.

Is to have enough money
to pay for my mixtapes.

Damn. Can we close that door?

[Dame] What was that, fool?

[laughter]

What up?

Let me get my favorite part…

I gotta get my woof on quick
and then we gonna set up the video.

- Okay.
- Okay.

Um…

This video cost me.

Me.

$33,000.

That I paid for out of my pocket.

Started off with them telling me,
"We could do it for $8,000."

[laughter]

We put this together to get the buzz going
so that I can get me a release date.

You know what I mean?

This is Coodie right here.
He shot all the footage.

- [cheering]
- [man] Yeah, Coodie!

This turnout…
All we did was two-way people.

And we were expecting 30 people.

And over 200 people ended up coming out.

So, man, that's love out here.
I want everybody to give it up.

[all applauding]

♪ Every sunset feel brighter ♪

♪ Every sunshine feel righter ♪

♪ Please light ya lighter
For the producer and the writer ♪

♪ It feel like God wrote this
I'm just here to quote this ♪

♪ I don't know if you know this
Them accident pictures was bogus ♪

♪ Through the doctor's exact estimation ♪

♪ He said, "Nigga you almost
Bussed to final destination" ♪

♪ "Man, you musta
Had a blessing from Pastor Mason" ♪

♪ 'Cause that trip to LA
Could've been my last vacation ♪

♪ And, man, I know I can ♪

♪ Drop a down payment
On that Porsche Cayenne ♪

♪ But what? I went ahead with a plan ♪

♪ Paid for my own video
Directed by my man ♪

[laughter]

["Through the Wire" playing]

[woman] A new video.

What's the new video?

It's yours, it's Kanye West's video.

- [Kanye] Okay.
- Okay, can I get some change?

♪ Yo, Gee, they can't stop me
From rapping, can they? ♪

♪ Can they? ♪

♪ Through the fire, through the limit ♪

♪ I spit it through the wire, man ♪

♪ For a chance to be with you ♪

♪ It's too much stuff
For my heart right now, man ♪

♪ I'd gladly risk it all right now ♪

♪ Through the fire
Through whatever, come what may ♪

♪ It's a life or death situation, man… ♪

[Coodie] After filming Kanye
for over a year…

[imperceptible]

…after months of sneaking into MTV,

after dedicating countless hours
to our first music video…

That night, it felt like we made it.

Dame saw the full vision at last.

And soon, millions of people did too.

[woman 1] Welcome back to TRL.

This is the top 20 video countdown.

[man 2] You're watching BET's 106 & Park…

- [woman 2] Kanye West.
- [man 2] "Through the Wire."

[Coodie] "Through the Wire"
would be one of the top music videos

on the countdowns for weeks.

And thanks to that,
Kanye got his release date.

And Roc-A-Fella
opened up the budget for his album.

[people applauding]

[Dame] And introducing this next artist,
I've got a story, I won't be up here long,

but I want you to know
how we feel about this man at the Roc.

When he used to come and make his beats,
he used to be like, "Yo, I rap."

I'm not gonna lie,
I never paid much attention.

I was like, "All right."

"Stick to the beats, kid."
You know? That kind of thing?

What I thought he was gonna do

was make an album
and put a bunch of guests on it.

But obviously,
he had something different in mind.

I liked
that he never tried to be like anybody.

He was intent on being original
and doing things his way.

And on another level,
he's always controlled his own destiny.

[Coodie] We had worked so hard
to introduce Kanye to the world

and now the world could understand why.

[man] Without further ado,
let's make some noise for Chi-Town's own…

[people cheering]

…my nigga, I'm proud of him, Kanye West.

[pensive music playing]

["We Don't Care" playing]

♪ But we gon' keep baking
Till the day we get cake ♪

♪ We don't care what people say
My niggas ♪

♪ Drug dealing just to get by ♪

♪ Stacking money till it get sky high ♪

♪ Drug dealing just to get by ♪

♪ Stack your money till it get sky high ♪

♪ We wasn't supposed to make it past 25 ♪

♪ Joke's on you, we still alive ♪

♪ Throw your hands up in the sky and say ♪

♪ We don't care what people say ♪

["Jesus Walks" playing]

♪ Jesus walks for them ♪

♪ Jesus walks for them ♪

I thought the chorus was saying
"Jesus" in the background.

Yo, Coodie.

- [Coodie] That's what it is saying.
- Okay!

- [Coodie] Jesus walk.
- [woman] All right.

- [Coodie] God show me…
- [woman] All right.

You know I'mma
let y'all do mad videos, right?

- [Coodie] Yeah.
- But "Jesus Walks"…

Man, dawg.

I gotta get Hype, man.

- [Coodie] Hype?
- Yeah.

[laughter]

I gotta get Hype Williams, dawg.

- You know I love...
- [Coodie] Do what you gotta do.

Dawg… The videos is dope

but I gotta get Hype to do
the 15 minute movie for this, dawg.

[Coodie] That's what you gotta do,
you gotta do it.

But you know I fuck with y'all, you know?

- I fuck with you though.
- [Coodie] Hey.

[man] Make sure we cool, but, no.

Man, I mean, but, G…

[Coodie] I mean, if you think
he could do the job...

I mean, you know Hype Williams.

He like the Jay-Z of that shit.

He like the Eminem.

What do you think, though?

I mean, I think we the next niggas,
you know what I'm saying?

But the thing is… just…

This is the next level shit,

but this is Hype…

That shit is Hype Williams.

That's like
one of the old Hype Williams videos.

- Those are…
- True.

I mean… [laughing]

I just… Hey…

I just…

I'm gonna get the call like, "Coodie!"

- "Fuck that…"
- [Kanye] Nigga fucked up.

Nigga fucked the video up!

"Hype done fucked it."

"Coodie, fuck that."

He's gonna get to the set.
Hype will have his own style.

Kanye gonna be like,
"What the fuck is this?"

"I wanted it to be like this."

[chuckling]

You know it's gonna happen…

We gonna be flying out to Chicago
and making it right.

- You're all gonna have on hoodies…
- Right.

[laughter]

["Spaceship" playing]

♪ …working this grave shift
And I ain't made shit ♪

♪ I wish I could buy me
A spaceship and fly ♪

♪ Past the sky ♪

♪ Oh, oh ♪

♪ If my manager insults me again
I will be assaulting him ♪

♪ After I fuck the manager up
Then I'm gonna shorten the register up ♪

♪ Let's go back, back to the Gap
Look at my check, wasn't no scratch ♪

♪ So if I stole, wasn't my fault ♪

♪ Yeah, I stole, never got caught ♪

♪ They take me to the back and pat me ♪

♪ Asking me about some khakis ♪

♪ But let some Black people walk in
I bet they show off their token blackie ♪

♪ Oh, now they love Kanye ♪

♪ "Let's put him all
In the front of the store" ♪

♪ Saw him on break
Next to the "No Smoking" sign ♪

♪ With a blunt in the mall
Taking my hits, writing my hits ♪

♪ Writing my rhymes, clearing my mind ♪

♪ This fucking job can't help him ♪

♪ So I quit, y'all welcome ♪

♪ Y'all don't know my struggle
Y'all can't match my hustle ♪

♪ You can't catch my hustle
You can't fathom my love, dude ♪

♪ Lock yourself in a room doing
Five beats a day for three summers ♪

♪ That's A Different World
Like Cree Summer's ♪

♪ I deserve to do these numbers ♪

♪ The kid that made that
Deserves that Maybach ♪

♪ So many records in my basement ♪

♪ I'm just waiting on my spaceship ♪

♪ Blaow ♪

Wanna hear that one back? Play it back.

[pensive music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

[Coodie] The New Year
always brings change.

It's everyone's chance to start over.

To begin again.

[indistinct chatter]

[Coodie] What's up, y'all?

Oh, yeah, the cameraman is always here.
Happy New Year, cameraman!

[Coodie laughing] Happy New Year.

This is the master bedroom.
This is the master bathroom.

If y'all wondering who filming,
this is me right here.

All of my sexy self. Got my glasses on.

You know. A little something something.

- Happy New Year!
- Happy New Year!

[imperceptible]

- Happy New Year!
- Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Coodie Coo!

Channel Zero still in effect, man…
Hustle Period. Uh, Mind State. Chi-Town.

Man, it's real big. '04, baby. We made it.

Have a prosperous New Year
that brings a lot of love,

a lot of peace, a lot of money.

Whatcha gonna do different this year
than last year?

What am I gonna do this year
better than last year?

How can I make it better?

You're right.

It's just gonna get better.

It's just gonna get better.

Everybody who's been with us,
like you, Coodie, like Greg.

Where's Greg?

Uh… Everybody who's been with Kanye.

We're gonna make it. We're gonna do it.

2004 is gonna be our best year ever.

And that's what our resolution is.

To make this the best year that ever was
for everybody on the team.

- Yeah!
- All right!

- 2004!
- Happy New Year!

- Happy New Year, everybody.
- All right.

[Coodie] From this point on,
none of us knew exactly what to expect.

- [Donda] We got ten…
- [all] Ten, nine, eight, seven…

[Coodie] With the album
finally coming out…

[all counting down]

…it felt like
our lives were about to change.

[all] …two. One!

[all cheering]

[Coodie] Forever.

[cheering]

[imperceptible]

[announcer speaking indistinctly]

[crowd shouting] Kanye!

- [woman] Kanye!
- [crowd] Kanye!

- [woman] Who do you want?
- [crowd] Kanye!

- [woman] Who you came to see?
- [crowd] Kanye!

- [woman] Who do you wanna see?
- [crowd] Kanye!

- [woman] I can't hear you!
- [crowd] Kanye!

[woman speaking indistinctly]

[pop song playing over speakers]

[cheers and applause]

Silence!

[cheering continues faintly]

[pensive music playing]

[crowd cheering]

[imperceptible]

[crowd cheering loudly]

[TV host 1] Our next guest
is an acclaimed record producer

whose debut solo CD
is titled The College Dropout.

Please welcome Kanye West, everyone.

[woman 1] Instead of just producing,

Kanye West is generating
the biggest buzz in the biz

because he's writing
and recording his own hits.

[woman 2] Part showman,
part businessman and all talent,

rap artist Kanye West
will take center stage…

[woman 3] …so hot right now.
Give it up for Kanye West.

[TV host 2] Tonight's musical guest.
Make some noise

for Kanye West.

[Kanye] I used this entire album
as, uh, my rehabilitation.

Instead of staying at the hotel,
I snuck in.

And I made songs that inspired me.
Songs that gave me life.

I feel like this album
was kind of like my angel

that helped heal me.

It revived my spirits.

[pensive music playing]

[Coodie] The impact of The College Dropout
forever changed the culture.

But it felt like the bigger Kanye got,

the further we grew apart.

And when Kanye went on tour without me,

I knew I needed to start
making time for myself.

My mother and father are visiting.

Go ahead, Daddy.

Maybe this thing.
I get you all at this thing.

[Coodie] Fine.

One thing my mother and father taught me

was that everything happens for a reason.

So no matter what, always keep moving.

With Kanye out on the road,

other artists started reaching out
for me and Chike to direct their videos.

- [Chike] Look at your man, Coodie.
- [Coodie speaking indistinctly]

Any videos we do,
we're writing that motherfucking shit.

- That's how it goes. Tell 'em, Chike.
- Yes, sir.

[pensive music continues]

["Ordinary People" playing]

[singing indistinctly]

So, this is the first day, Coodie.

The first day
of the John Legend Get Lifted album.

[vocalizing]

♪ We're just ordinary people ♪

♪ We don't know which way to go ♪

♪ 'Cause we're ordinary people ♪

♪ Maybe we should take it slow ♪

♪ Take it slow, oh♪

Whoo!

[Coodie] I'mma go out there
and I'mma do my thing.

'Cause I already know that
I ain't really doing this.

It's God doing it. He directs.

So I'm just going to hold the camera

and then he gonna be
like, "Point it over here."

And I'm like… "Point it over there."

"Point it over here."

Yeah. God is doing it.
God is directing this.

[dramatic music playing]

[Coodie] G-O-D.

[imperceptible]

While me and Chike
were making a name for ourselves,

Kanye's third single, "Jesus Walks,"
became a cultural phenomenon.

Before his accident,
I wrote a video idea for the song.

But Kanye was still set on
using more established directors.

Man, Coodie called me.

He was like, "We shooting 'Jesus Walks.'"

I'm like, "Didn't Kanye
already shoot 'Jesus Walks'?"

He was like, "He didn't like it."
I thought he saw another version.

"He didn't like that one either."
I'm like, "Whoa."

He's like, "We're gonna shoot
another one in Chicago."

I'm like, "Straight up? Word."
"Kanye wants you to play Jesus."

I'm like, "What?"

"Yeah, Dave Chappelle
didn't want to be Jesus."

So I'm like, "Straight up.
Why don't you get J. Ivy to do it?"

He was like,
"No. He don't want a Black Jesus."

"He want a mixed Jesus

so he don't got to argue about
whether Jesus was Black or white."

I'm the only mixed kid, so, hey,
I got cast as Jesus. Bada boom, Bada bing.

Acting debut. [chuckles]
Watch out, Denzel.

- [man 1] So just follow them? That's all?
- [man 2] Smooth move follow.

- [man 1] Yeah.
- Okay.

- [man 3] Where the…
- Be getting…

How do you wanna…
We should pull it on a backdrop.

On a different backdrop.

Let's do a quick run-through.
Go ahead. Dave, let's just do the move.

You gonna focus pull
all the way to Coodie over there?

- [Coodie] Jesus knows all.
- Let's just do a test. Go.

Jesus behind the camera.
That's what I'm talking about.

[Coodie] Jesus knows all.

[director] Rolling. Action.

[emotional music playing]

♪ You know what the Midwest is?
Young and restless ♪

♪ Where restless niggas
Might snatch ya necklace ♪

♪ And next these niggas
Might jack ya Lexus ♪

♪ Somebody tell these niggas
Who Kanye West is ♪

♪ That means guns, sex, lies, videotape ♪

♪ But if I talk about God
My record won't get played ♪

♪ And I don't think
There is nothing I can do now ♪

♪ To right my wrongs ♪

♪ I want to talk to God ♪

♪ But I'm afraid
Because we ain't spoke in so long ♪

♪ God show me the way
Because the Devil's tryna break me down ♪

[TV host] Kanye West is here.

His debut album,
The College Dropout, has earned him

ten Grammy nominations,
including Best New Artist,

Song of the Year,
Album of the Year and more.

I am pleased to have him here
at this table for the first time

as we look ahead of the Grammys.

[Kanye rapping indistinctly]

[Kanye] ♪ New York City has hella haters
That's aight, we straight to the top ♪

[pop music playing]

♪ Yeah! As we proceed ♪

Hey.

[scatting]

[pop music playing over speakers]

[Kanye] I need you to help me clear this.
I got a Ray Charles sample.

["Now I Ain't Saying
She a Gold Digger" playing]

♪ She give me money ♪

♪ Now, I ain't saying she a gold digger ♪

♪ When I'm in need ♪

♪ But she ain't messing
With no broke niggas ♪

- ♪ I gotta leave ♪
- ♪ Get down girl, go ahead, get down ♪

- ♪ I gotta leave ♪
- ♪ Get down girl, go ahead ♪

♪ She give me money… ♪

[song continues]

You was fly from a young nigga.

[laughing]

[indistinct chatter]

[Kanye] If I told you this back in '98,
you wouldn't have believed it.

We gonna be on MTV
doing an interview with Puff.

That shit crazy, man.

We used to call him you, man.

- [Kanye] Yeah?
- Word. Yeah.

[Kanye] I see a lot of him in me.

[Jamie] For real.

[Puff Daddy] A lot of me in him.
Vice-versa.

[Jamie] That's some real shit, man.

[Puff Daddy] It's been incredible
to see him work. You know?

The way he works… I call him "Boy Genius."

"Little Quincy Jones."
You know what I'm saying?

You guys see? We got similar tastes.

[woman] What would be
the most meaningful thing

to happen Grammy night for you?

I always wanted the opportunity to speak.

Even if I lost.
Just give me a chance to speak.

That's all I want.

I just want to talk.
I wanna go up and thank people.

'Cause I'm working on my speech
and, you know…

If I'm not able to say it
at the press room,

I'll have to say it in every interview
all the way completely through.

[woman] You both have a tendency

to do a lot of talking,
but you guys deliver.

So it's okay.

- You know...
- [Kanye] Don't you love it, though?

Right?

What happened to the Muhammad Alis?

What happened to the rock stars
in the game?

What's up with all this, "Thank you"?

What are you supposed to do? Just bow?

[softly] "Thank you very much."

That's… Dawg!
I'm saying I came from nothing.

And right now,
I'm sitting next to Puff on MTV.

And I'm finna go home and call somebody,
like, "Dawg, do you know what I just did?"

It's to the point
where I can't even get credit for nothing.

I've been always trying…
I spent 400 bucks on this

just to be like,
"Nigga, you ain't up on this."

You ain't up on this!

I'm in the studio with Puff!

[laughter]

[rap song playing]

♪ G-Unit to the Aftermath
To my niggas in Roc-A-Fella to the… ♪

[Kanye] What up, Ma?

♪ Is the reason why niggas
Always attack the black… ♪

- How you doing?
- Okay.

How are you doing? Nice to see you.

Okay.

Y'all got some big stuff going?

- [Puff Daddy] Yeah.
- Great.

♪ To my niggas in Roc-A-Fella ♪

♪ And the Bad Boy staff ♪

- [song continues]
- [indistinct chatter]

[pensive music playing]

[reporter 1] If someone
told you a year ago

that today you'd be sitting here
nominated for ten Grammy Awards,

would you have believed it?

[Kanye] No. What happened is

I actually told other people
and they didn't believe it.

[woman] We gonna lift you up
with the help of this year's

most nominated artist, Kanye West…

[reporter 2] I'm interested in how you,

and why you,
believe all of this has happened.

[Kanye] I just think it was in God's plan.

I think He just has me here for a reason.
That I have something to say.

And there's people
that might be better programmers,

better rappers, but where I think
I really won is I had the heart.

[emotional music playing]

[Coodie] Heart was the first thing
I ever noticed about Kanye.

I always believed his purpose
would take him to these heights.

Motivated by faith, we climbed together.

And on this night,
Kanye arrived at the top of the mountain.

And the Grammy goes to…

The College Dropout, Kanye West.

[cheers and applause]

[music continues playing]

[imperceptible]

Whoo!

[cheers and applause]

When I had my accident…

I found out at that moment,

nothing in life is promised except death.

If you have the opportunity
to play this game of life,

you need to appreciate every moment.

A lot of people don't appreciate
their moment until it's passed.

Right now is my time and my moment.

Thanks to the fans,
thanks to the accident, thanks to God,

thanks to Roc-A-Fella,
Jay-Z, Dame Dash, G,

my mother, Rhymefest,
everyone that's helped me.

And I plan… I plan to celebrate.

I plan to celebrate and scream
and pop champagne every chance I get,

'cause I'm at the Grammys, baby!

[loud cheers and applause]

[imperceptible]

I know, I know.
Everybody asked me the question.

They want to know, "Well, Kanye…"

"I know he's going to wile out
and do something crazy."

Everybody wants to know
what I would do if I didn't win.

[laughter]

I guess we'll never know.

[cheers and applause]

[Coodie] When I started
filming Kanye West,

the goal was to see how far
his dreams would take him.

Now that he dominated the Grammys,

I thought we had the ending
to the documentary.

But I had no idea
where life would take us next.

[Kanye] ♪ I told God
I'll be back in a second ♪

♪ Man, it's so hard not to act reckless ♪

I had heard that you were
really out of control.

George Bush doesn't care
about Black people.

Taylor, I'mma let you finish,
but Beyoncé had…

[voices overlapping]

[Kanye] You already got the answer!

For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.

[reporter] Mr. Kanye West.

[man] You a genius!

[Kanye] I just told you
who I thought I was…

A god!

[crowd] Kanye! Kanye!

[Kanye] Don't tweet that?

[choir music playing]