Pompous. separate. provocateur. genius. No matter what you think of Kanye West, there’s no denying his enormous influence on pop culture. Everyone seems to have an opinion about him, but how many people really know his story? TRUE LIFE STORY: Kanye West traces his journey from growing up with a single mom on Chicago’s South Side to global superstardom
Kanye was born in Atlanta in 1977 and moved to Chicago at the age of three when his newly divorced mother got an apprenticeship. His mother had a huge impact on his life and encouraged him to learn, explore and improve. The boy started writing poetry at the age of five and fell in love with hip-hop in seventh grade. He dropped out of college a year later and moved to New York City, where he struggled with his music for a while before forming a fruitful collaboration with Jay Z.
What followed was game after game of Kanye’s monumental rise in the music industry. Today, he is an industry in his own right and has changed a lot of the music world in his image. Along the way, viewers will benefit from thoughtful analysis of some of his biggest hits, insight into the many ups and downs of his personal and professional life, and his marriage to reality TV icon Kim Kardashian colorful. Commentary in the film is impassioned, informative and informal.
The film doesn’t shy away from the more provocative events that shaped its public image, including his own, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé’s infamous on-stage spectacle, his unrelenting support for President Donald Trump, and The grandiosity and other places that are frequently displayed on social media. What emerges is a multilayered portrait of an artist of unwavering conviction, fearlessness in speaking his mind, and boundless desire to find his truest self.
The second in True Geordie’s biographical documentary series, True Life Stories: Kanye West is a compelling look at one of the most talented and polarizing artists of our time.
Directed by: Laurence Mckenna
