When viewers first encounter Kanye West in Jeen-Yuhs, Netflix’s three-part documentary, he’s a hungry young music producer who dreams of making it as a rapper in New York City’s hip-hop scene (Jeen-Yuhs is produced by TIME Studios, the film and television division of TIME). As West, who has since changed his legal name to Ye, makes his own way in the industry, he rubs shoulders with some of the major artists of the day—Mos Def, Pharrell, Ludacris, and of course, Jay-Z, who helped give West his big break before signing him to his Roc-A-Fella Records label, marking the start of a deep and complicated friendship.
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It’s no surprise, then, that Jeen-Yuhs—for which filmmakers Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah followed West for more than 20 years—is full of familiar faces. Part 1 of the film highlights many of the connections that West made during his early years as an artist; people who became close friends, collaborators and creative partners who helped shape his musical legacy—and vice versa. And West wasn’t the only person in the scene whose star was on the rise; in part one of Jeen-Yuhs, a young (and then-up-and-coming) John Legend is seen working on West’s iconic debut album The College Dropout, while Jamie Foxx is seen recording his feature on the song “Slow Jamz” off the same album, ahead of his Oscar win for Ray.
Here’s a rundown of every celebrity and industry cameo (in order of appearance) in part 1 of Jeen-Yuhs.
act i: VISION
Mase and Harlem World: Rapper and pastor Mase, formerly signed to Sean Combs’ Bad Boy Records, and the hip-hop group he founded, appear in the documentary alongside West in an interview with Simmons for the Chicago hip-hop program Channel Zero while at a 1998 birthday party for producer Jermaine Dupri.
Jay-Z: The rapper, songwriter, music executive, and entrepreneur played a huge role in West’s rise in the rap industry. As the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and the biggest name in rap during the late ’90s and early aughts, Jay helped give West his big break as a producer when West produced the song “This Can’t Be Life” for his 2000 album The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. This marked the start of a long and fruitful creative partnership and a complex friendship. Jay-Z has since appeared on four of West’s 10 studio albums, including his most recent release, Donda, and the duo paired up for Watch the Throne, a collaborative album.
Talib Kweli and Mos Def: The rappers, who rose to prominence as the hip-hop duo Black Star, were both early supporters and collaborators of West’s, advocating for him to get signed to Rawkus Records, the conscious hip-hop label they worked with. Although West did not receive a record deal with Rawkus, both Talib Kweli and Mos Def appeared on tracks on The College Dropout. In a particularly moving scene in the documentary, Mos Def and West perform an a cappella rendition of what later becomes the track “Two Words” on the album.
JB Marshall: Now a manager and music executive, JB, also from Chicago, was a close friend of West’s during his early days in New York. In the documentary, he bests West in a spirited game of pool at West’s Newark, N.J. apartment, during an informal hang with other Chicago natives.
Greg “OlSkool Ice-Gre” Lewis: The rapper and music executive met West when he bought a beat from the producer for his band, Abstract Mindstate. While Lewis and West were both from Chicago, they didn’t strike up a friendship until they were in New York City; in Jeen-Yuhs, Lewis can be seen working on the track “Two Words” at the makeshift studio in West’s Newark apartment. Later, he became the longtime A&R for West’s GOOD Music label.
J. Ivy: Poet and spoken word artist J. Ivy is the lead writer for Jeen-Yuhs, but he’s also featured prominently in the documentary. He found camaraderie with West as a fellow Chicagoan and creative in New York during the early aughts, and he eventually co-wrote and performed alongside West on the College Dropout track “Never Let Me Down.” More from music history: during a studio session for the album, Ivy came up with John Legend’s stage name.
Tarrey Torae: The singer from Chicago is featured prominently on the track “Family Business” on The College Dropout, the lyrics of which are inspired by her anecdotes about her own family; in the documentary, there’s a clip of her doing an early recording of the song at West’s apartment.
Consequence: The Queens rapper and music executive, who is also the cousin of A Tribe Called Quest‘s Q-Tip, was a close friend of West’s after he moved to New York, often socializing with him at his Newark apartment, as seen in the documentary. He’s featured on the track “Spaceship” on The College Dropout and was later signed to West’s GOOD Music label.
Charles “88 Keys” Njapa: During West’s early years in New York, the rapper and producer was a close friend and collaborator of his; in the film, he appears at an early listening session in West’s home.
Damon “Dame” Dash: The music executive and entrepreneur, best known for being the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, appears as a looming authority figure in the documentary, dangling the possibility of a record deal in front of West while enlisting him to continue making beats and producing for other Roc-A-Fella artists.
Kareem “Biggs” Burke: In a memorable segment of the doc, the music executive, film producer, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records has a spirited discussion with West about why West wants to be known first as a rapper, as opposed to a producer who also raps.
Gee Roberson: The manager and music executive was formerly the VP of A&R at Roc-A-Fella Records; in an entertaining bit from the film, West crashes the label offices, interrupting Roberson on a phone call. Roberson later became West’s manager.
Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua and Big Face Gary: These music executives were both A&Rs at Roc-A-Fella Records while West was working at the label as a producer—they appear in a segment filmed at the office.
Chaka Pilgrim: The music business executive and former president of Roc Nation Records has a memorable cameo in Jeen-Yuhs, where a young Kanye raps to her in the Roc-A-Fella Records office in the hopes of securing a record deal, despite the fact that, at the time, she worked in the marketing department.
DJ Clue: The DJ, producer, and radio personality associated with New York City’s Hot 97 and Power 105.1 radio stations appears in the documentary as an integral part of the hip-hop scene West is trying to make his mark on.
Memphis Bleek: The rapper, songwriter, and music executive is best known for being Jay-Z’s hypeman during his heyday; in the documentary, he discusses the state of Chicago hip-hop with West during a studio session.
Justin “Just Blaze” Smith: In Jeen-Yuhs, during a studio session together, West calls the producer and DJ his “best friend and arch enemy”; at the time, they were both producing for Roc-A-Fella Records.
Gimel “Young Guru” Keaton: The audio engineer, producer, DJ, and music executive worked with West at Roc-A-Fella Records; in the film, he shares an anecdote about how West came up with a beat for the Scarface track “My Block.”
Joe “3H” Weinberger: The former A&R of Capitol Records and Interscope, Weinberger tries unsuccessfully to sign West to Capitol Records and is present in the documentary for many listening and studio sessions; when he was unable to convince record execs at Capitol to sign West, he helped facilitate the deal with Roc-A-Fella. If you listen carefully to the nearly 13 minute outro of “Last Call,” you can hear a sample of Weinberger talking about signing West.
Ali Richmond: The former A&R for Rawkus Records appears in a touching clip in Jeen-Yuhs, where he talks about wanting to sign West.
DeVon “Devo Springsteen” Harris: The producer and songwriter, who also happens to be West’s cousin, makes an appearance in the documentary as West’s one-time personal assistant.
Quddus Phillippe: The former MTV VJ and host of Total Request Live appears multiple times in the documentary as an early supporter of West who helps to catapult the rapper to mainstream success by featuring him on MTV.
Vernon “Xtreme” Brown, Dug Infinite, Ernest Dion “No ID” Wilson: These producers were mentors and early supporters of West while he was growing up in Chicago; in Jeen-Yuhs, Dug Infinite is shown starting a small public beef on Chicago radio with West for crediting No ID but not him in an interview. In response, West counters that the interviewer edited out his full statement.
Lateefa “Teefa” Harland: In the documentary, the radio personality invites West to appear on her program during a visit back to his hometown of Chicago.
Donda West: West’s beloved mother, a Chicago State University professor, has many poignant moments with her son in the film, but none more so than a sweet segment where she encourages him to continue pursuing his dreams while maintaining some humility, noting that the “giant looks in the mirror and sees nothing.”
Che “Rhymefest” Smith: The rapper, producer, songwriter, and author makes a cameo in Jeen-Yuhs during a trip to Chicago with West. He and West later co-founded Donda’s House, a non-profit youth organization.
Bradley “Scarface” Jordan: In a delightful segment of the documentary, the rapper and producer, who rose to prominence as part of the hip-hop group Geto Boys, does a studio session with West for a potential feature on The College Dropout. While he doesn’t appear on the final cut of the album, during the studio session, he gives West major affirmation for the song “Jesus Walks.”
Pharrell Williams: The rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer shares an intimate and surprisingly spiritual moment with West during a studio session, where West does an impromptu listening of “Through the Wire,” eliciting an ecstatic response from Williams.
Beyoncé Knowles: The singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and actor makes a brief appearance at the concert where West’s signing with Roc-A-Fella is announced.
Jeen-Yuhs premieres on Netflix beginning Feb. 16. Twenty-four years in the making, this documentary about Kanye West was directed by Coodie & Chike, from TIME Studios and Creative Control.