How many young rappers have a cameraman on them 24/7 right now, hoping they'll one day become world famous?

It is unlikely that the film material will become a documentary that interests half the world.

But when the math works out, the material is worth its weight in gold, preferably as much as Kanye West.

The new three-part Netflix documentary Jeen-Yuhs follows how West, now 44, moved from Chicago to New York in the early 2000s to become more than a successful producer building beats for other rappers.

Producer Clarence "Coodie" Simmons, who left his job as a comedian to meticulously document West's rise to fame in New York, believed he had what it took - and much more besides.

Sebastian Eder

Editor in the society department at FAZ.NET.

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The first episode was released last Wednesday, and some scenes already have what it takes for rap history.

For example, a clip went viral in which West and his cameraman burst into the office of the record label Roc-A-Fella to rap his subsequent super hit “All Falls Down” to uninspired marketing people – and then left disappointed.

A former Roc-A-Fella employee categorized the scene on Twitter: West played the song ten times in the office and had it filmed the whole time: "How many times can you react enthusiastically to something you've heard ten times?

It was just annoying at that point.” Before the ubiquity of smartphones, nobody was used to being constantly followed by a camera.

So Kanye West was ahead of his time in that respect, too.

What you see is a young man who you only have to nudge with a question or a beat, and then the thoughts, words and rap lines will bubble out of him.

When West raps the song "Two Words" with the rap legend Mos Def for his camera without a beat in 2002, Mos Def ends up sitting next to him with his mouth open, so much energy and ambition was involved.

West's mother, Donda West, who has since died, also felt this energy: "You play songs like Michael Jordan throws free throws," she says when he visits her in her small apartment before his big success.

His tenth album is named after his mother.

The sequel, "Donda 2", has been announced for this month.

In "Jeen-Yuhs," West's mother also talks to her son about how he sometimes comes across as "a little arrogant."

She doesn't think that's a bad thing, she says, he's just a star and that requires a lot of self-confidence.

He should just be careful to keep his feet on the ground, even when he's floating high in the air.

The fact that West has now lost his grip on reality is obvious and also has to do with his bipolar disorder.

Fans can follow his nervous breakdowns online in real time.

He is making life difficult for his wife Kim Kardashian after their separation in recent weeks.

His outbursts of anger are often directed at her new partner, Pete Davidson, whom West accuses of all sorts of things.

In view of the picture that the documentary paints of him, such capers seem all the more grotesque: the billionaire West has reached the goal of all the dreams he was pursuing twenty years ago - and yet he seems so much unhappier than at a time when Wealth and fame still seemed out of reach.

West says in "Jeen-Yuhs" that he wants to be so successful that at some point he can give up his last name.

It has come so far too.

Still, you'd rather swap places with the rapper, who was playing billiards in New York with his boys from Chicago at the time.

So maybe it's not such a sad idea after all - that of the many young rappers who let themselves be filmed around the clock and are waiting for their big career.

At best, they're already having the time of their lives.

The next episode of Jeen-Yuhs has been on Netflix since Wednesday.