I admit, before I watched Jeen-yuhs, I didn’t know much about Kanye West beyond what the latest tabloid headlines told me. But I’m always interested in the relationship of class to celebrity, and celebrity to chaos, and the new three-part documentary playing on Netflix called Jeen-yuhs is pretty fascinating in that regard. Directed by Coodie and Chike, filmmakers who first came to national prominence directing the music video for Kanye’s “Through the Wire,” the series starts off with the premise that there’s a lot the public doesn’t know about the rapper and producer. It sets out to rectify that with a wealth of highly personal film charting his youthful rise to fame, his accomplishments and crises in the midst of overwhelming celebrity, and his gradual return to faith and early friendships.

In the late 1990s, Coodie was running the public access station Channel Zero in Chicago, tracking the development of Chicago hip-hop, when he encountered the teenage rap producer Kanye West, who was already a rising success. Impressed by West’s talent and determination to become a rap star in his own right, Coodie wound up shelving his own efforts to forge a career in stand-up comedy in order to make a documentary charting West’s drive for stardom.

Obviously, it was a good bet.