Kanye West is one of the most polarizing celebrities of the 21st century. He's also one of the most fascinating. He has been through so many artistic iterations and controversies that it can difficult to keep track. Fortunately, a new documentary titled In Whose Name? will do it for us. The documentary follows teenager Nico Ballesteros as he accompanies Kanye West on his various business ventures.
Ballesteros directed the documentary, which is produced by the production companies Goodfellas and Utopia. The press release for In Whose Name? promises to explore "overlapping influences of corporate exploitation, racial complexities and psychological struggles inherent in the American dream." It's a lot to deliver upon, but Kanye West's response to the doc leads us to believe it delivered. Ballesteros posted a screenshot of a text exchange with West after the rapper watched the final cut. His response was, in the classic Ye sense, dramatic. "The doc was deep," he asserted. "It was like being dead and looking back on my life."
Kanye West Previously Criticized His Netflix Doc Series
Ballesteros took the weighty statement to heart. "This is the most profound text message I have ever received," the director wrote back. "I love you brother." Kanye West has seemingly played a much bigger role in the making of In Whose Name? than the previous documentary about him. Netflix released a three part saga titled Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye West Trilogy in 2022. The series was released without West getting a chance to see the final cut, which he revealed in a since-deleted IG post. Clarence 'Coodie' Simmons and Chike Ozah, the Jeen-Yus creators, told Digital Spy that they refused for fear of compromising their artistic vision.
"It's not an autobiography of Kanye, you know," Ozah stated. "It's not a type of documentary where it would serve the doc best for him to have ultimate control." Kanye West attended the Jeen-Yus premiere, but it's clear from his text exchange with Ballesteros that he's a much bigger fan of the upcoming doc, In Whose Name? The documentary is reported to have been shot over the last six years, and the budget is alleged to have been $1 billion. We can't wait to see what West himself saw when the doc is released.
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