Lee Daniels’ new hip-hop drama Empire premieres Wednesday night (Jan. 7) on Fox, and with a high-caliber list of contributors it has piqued interest across film, TV and music.
Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson fill the starring roles of a former drug dealer-turned-hip-hop mogul and CEO of Empire Entertainment and his ex-wife recently out of prison in the music-heavy soap opera, which will showcase a cast of artists new to the mainstream, boosted by Timbaland‘s production.
The show’s stars and creators turned out Tuesday at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood for the premiere, and Billboard was on hand to preview what we can expect in the upcoming season.
TERRENCE HOWARD (plays Lucious Lyon):
What does it mean to be portraying a hip-hop mogul — this sort of untouchable character that’s become such a cultural touchstone today?
One of the things about Lucious is I’ve never seen him have a good day. Lucious has issues and we always think…that someone like Jay Z has a great life. No, we have a great deal of issues. Everyone’s trying to tear you down. So I’m hoping that the world can visualize all that glitter ain’t gold and you will lose a lot in trying to take over the number-one spot in the world, but it’s worth the fight. It is worth the fight, if you can maintain your integrity at the end of the day.
Why is it worth it?
How many of those sperms were trying to get to the egg? 499,999,999 didn’t get there. Only one got there and that’s the one that gets the cheese. You’ve got to go all the way or don’t come at all.
DANNY STRONG (executive producer, writer):
How did the idea for Empire originate?
I was driving around and I was in L.A., and on the radio came a news story about Puffy, and I thought, “Wow, hip-hop is so cool and dynamic and eccentric and I should do something with hip-hop.” And then I instantly thought about King Lear and The Lion in Winter and Jay Z, and all these kind of ideas flooded into my head — pretty much what the show is. And I was doing The Butler with Lee Daniels, and so I called Lee and said, “I have this idea,” and so I met him and I pitched it to him and he loved it. He said, “It’s not a movie, it’s a TV show.” And thus Empire was born.
Why network TV? Did you entertain cable for the project?
We wanted to do it as a network show because we had this idea of it being like Dynasty and Dallas. As soon as he said TV show, we both started talking about Dynasty immediately and making it a soap opera, and we thought that that would work better on a network than on cable. On cable, it would turn more into a kind of gritty exposé of the hip-hop world, and we didn’t want to do that. We wanted to do a Dynasty-like soap opera that happened to take place in the hip-hop world.
Documenting an industry is sure to find its critics. What kind of research did you do to get the music business right?
I just did a lot of research. We know a lot of people in the music industry and just watched documentaries and watched interviews with people.
FIL EISLER (composer):
What should fans expect from Empire and your score?
You can expect tons of drama. It’s been fun doing it, because it’s Timbaland doing all the songs and me doing all the underscores, so you have this whole hip-hop world and you have this whole orchestral underscore world. It’s kind of tradition of almost the gangster movie, really.
What kind of direction did Lee Daniels give you for scoring the show? Were there any specific references mentioned?
When Lee Daniels first came to me with this, he said he wants it to feel more like a classic movie. Because the hip-hop side of things is more than covered with the great songs that Timbaland has come up with. So it’s been really fun making those worlds work together and then also diving into really old movie territory.
JIM BEANZ (music producer, plays Titan):
How prominent is the music in the show, as related to the drama?
The music plays a very important role because what it does, it shows the dimensions between. … Each character has a different personality, so some of the music may be a little more aggressive, some may be by different genres — more rock or different things. One thing that’s great about the music is it’s different from a lot of the stuff you hear on the radio. And that’s one thing about Timb, he always brings something special and has different sounds and everything.
You’ve been in the industry for some time. How true to reality is this show?
The show’s very true to reality, actually. A lot of people who may not understand the music business, by watching this show you’ll get to hear a lot more of the politics that go on behind the scenes.
GRACE GEALEY (plays Anika Gibbons):
What’s it mean to you to portray hip-hop culture on mainstream, primetime television in this dramatic form?
The thing that makes me so proud about this show is this is not just a focus on the human experience, but it’s the black experience. And we’re really provoking a lot of thought when it comes to the people who are in the African-American community and how the African-American community is seen. There’s been a lot of controversy in today’s world, as we all know, when it comes to racism and discrimination and the things that we deal with, and this is a very audacious, bold and risky show where we are not apologizing for pushing the envelope.
What did you learn about the music industry working on this show? What was surprising?
Anika Cowen is the head of A&R for the company, so I’ve done a lot of research when it comes to what it’s like to be an A&R exec, so it was really interesting. And I think not just the music industry, but what it’s like to be a woman in the music industry and a black woman at that, so I think a lot of the focus had been on how cutthroat that can be — not just because of the industry but because she’s a woman in a male-dominated environment.
Did you find any good influences for your character?
I have a muse. I’m not going to tell you who she is, but I will say she is an A&R exec of a hip-hop label today. And yes, I’ve had similar conversations with her about what it’s like in her experience, and she hasn’t given me any secrets, but she’s definitely given me her experiences.
JUSSIE SMOLLETT (plays Jamal Lyon):
How was it working with Lee Daniels to present something as massive as the hip-hop industry to mainstream television?
Lee Daniels is notorious for his truth that he tells. So I feel like no matter what industry or setting that Empire had, it was going to be truthful. So it only makes sense that it was set in the hip-hop industry. Really, we’re set in the pop industry as well. It’s fantastic. We’re tackling things that have been discussed in whispers but not necessarily orally, vocally and fully. In order to work with Lee Daniels, you have to be fearless, so we’re just going balls to the wall.
What kind of research did you need to do going in to this to accurately portray the music industry?
I’ve been in the business since I was 4, but I’ve really been pounding the pavement as an indie artist for some time now, so you know it’s strange, because I always say music is the most beautiful thing in the world, but the music industry is the ugliest thing. So for that, I’ve experienced some of the ugliness of the music business in the past, but we’re just shedding light on the truth and that’s all I can say. It’s dope.