Netflix: Ye ventures through the wire in act two of jeen-yuhs

location – In the second installment of Netflix's three-part documentary, jeen-yuhs, Kanye "Ye" West lets the no-quit hustler in him take the wheel.

Act two of jeen-yuhs shows Kanye "Ye" West's struggle to get his debut studio album, The College Dropout, off the ground.
Act two of jeen-yuhs shows Kanye "Ye" West's struggle to get his debut studio album, The College Dropout, off the ground.  © Collage: IMAGO/UPI Photo

"I definitely think I'm bringing an entirely new market to Roc-A-Fella," Ye said at a 2002 press conference as jeen-yuhs: act two, titled PURPOSE, began.

Retrospectively speaking, he wasn't wrong.

After all, the 44-year-old rapper has never really fit into any box, no matter whose box it was.

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Though Ye was signed to Roc-A-Fella Records in 2002, he still hadn't fully busted into the rap game, which he felt was God's plan for his life.

Kanye's ego trip clearly started early on in his career, and that became blindingly evident in act two of jeen-yuhs.

At one point, Ye was told by "Big Face" Gary of Roc-A-Fella Records that he was, "The best rapper-producer in the f**king game."

Instead of taking this as a compliment, which it so clearly was, Ye instead compared the words to being called "the best kid rapper" or "the best female emcee".

Translation: he thought they were weak titles that didn't hold any weight or merit and didn't garner any respect. In reality, being called the best rapper-producer isn't the damaging dig Ye took it to be.

If anything, it gave him a foundation to stand on, and a bar to not only reach but surpass.

Because when you're Ye West, the competition is everyone – even yourself.

The crash that created The College Dropout

Ye's debut album, The College Dropout, took home the Grammy for Best Rap Album at the 47th Grammy Awards.
Ye's debut album, The College Dropout, took home the Grammy for Best Rap Album at the 47th Grammy Awards.  © Collage: IMAGO/UPI Photo

After scoring a feature on Jay-Z's seventh studio album, the Blueprint 2, things started to fall in place for Ye.

That is, until he was involved in a late night car crash in West Hollywood in 2002, breaking his jaw in three places.

Coodie, one of the filmmakers and the narrator of the three-part doc, initially said he was afraid Ye would never rap again following the accident.

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Imagine his surprise, along with those at Roc-A-Fella Records, to hear Yeezy was still firing off bars and putting work into his debut album, The College Dropout, even with his jaw physically wired shut.

More impressive was the now infamous track, Through The Wire, which Ye wrote and recorded during that time.

As act two rolls on, it becomes more evident that the no-quit, "music is life and winning is everything" attitude Ye possesses to this day was deeply engrained in him long before he made his debut as a rapper.

Just because Roc-A-Fella Records wasn't prioritizing him and his personal rap endeavors, didn't mean he was giving up on himself.

With notable figures in the music industry like Jamie Foxx, Jay-Z, John Legend, and former MTV filmmaker Chike Ozah in his corner, it was almost impossible for Ye to fail.

This is Kanye West we're talking about, and if there's one person he'll never let down, it's Ye. The only thing that has ever really stood in his way was his ego and overwhelming sense of entitlement.

Seeing video clips of Ye working on Gold Digger in the studio was probably the highlight of act two for day one fans. That hearing him tell a reporter he always thought Grammy recognition was in his future, and it was everyone else who thought he was crazy for having such confidence in his craft.

Ye went on to win the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2005 for The College Dropout, and went on to make his Grammy debut as a performer that same year and brought the hit single, Jesus Walks, to life.

With so much ground to cover, the third and final act of jeen-yuhs is sure to be a dramatic and jam-packed finale when it drops on Netflix on March 2.

Cover photo: Collage: IMAGO/UPI Photo

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