Hip Hop

Kanye West Plays Lauryn Hill’s ‘All Falls Down’ In Netflix ‘Jeen-Yuhs’ Documentary

Kanye West
Kanye West in Jamaica 2019

It seems both Netflix and Kanye West are pleased that the highly anticipated documentary ‘Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy is out today. Part one of the docu-series features a 20-year-old clip of how a young and confident Kanye pitching his musical ideas at Roc-A-Fella headquarters using original vocal sample of Lauryn Hill.

Jeen-yuhs chronicles the life of an emerging superstar and showcases Kanye West’s meteoric rise in the realm of rap, using film footage detailing over twenty years in the industry. The 2002 clip showed Kanye in a gray jacket with red stars and a black t-shirt rapping in a New York office. “Let me play you some stuff”, Kanye said before spitting some rhymes to seated marketing executive Chaka Pilgrim. The next part of the clip showed other executives in the room, with West now looking unsure of his next move before he eventually left the room.

Initially, the song’s reception by the music executives was lukewarm at best, but West was determined to have his moment as he believed in the track wholeheartedly. “All Fall Down” would go on to reach and sit comfortably in the number seven position on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and made itself a stand-out favorite on West’s 2004 debut album “The College Dropout.”

According to the hip-hop blog ‘Fake Shore Drive’, in order to get clearance from Hill to use her voice, West and his then manager flew to Miami in search of the former Fugees member. The sample came from the singer’s “Mystery of Iniquity,” which was sampled from her MTV Unplugged performance. Initially, she consented, but afterward, she retracted, and singer Syleena Johnson stepped in at the last minute to do the now-famous musical chorus.

Though not everything in the docu-series is to his liking, The “Donda” entertainer has apparently endorsed the finished film product as he was seen in early February, happy and interacting at the Los Angeles premiere, alongside the series directors Chike Ozah and Coodie Simmons. Part One is now available for streaming on Netflix, with parts two and three scheduled for release over the next two weeks.

‘Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy’ is a documentary about the life of music mogul, record producer, entrepreneur, and fashion designer Kanye West. Divided into three acts, Act I, “Vision,” premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2022, and in theatres for one night only on February 10, 2022.