Empire co-creator confirms the show is based on the life of Jay-Z.
Earlier this week, the co-creator of the hit TV series Empire, Danny Strong, revealed hidden details about the hip-hop drama. The writer pointed out that in the beginning th show received a ton of backlash for promoting stereotypes but, Danny Strong noted that the main character, Lucious Lyon is based on the multi-millionaire Jay-Z.
In the community a lot of folks felt like the images that were being portrayed [like] Terrence Howard’s character being an ex-dealer turned music mogul and that not being the blueprint of how young black kids can be successful. You gotta be a drug dealer to be a mogul type of thing.
There’s certainly some truth in that. The Jay Z story which very much inspired Lucious Lyon… certain elements of Lucious Lyon was that story. […] I view it as, the entire cast is African-American, we’re gonna have all different types of characters, and we’re just gonna tell good stories. We’re not gonna sit here and play defense or think that our show is a representation of black culture in its entirety. It’s just this story. For me, the story of people who have some sort of criminal past or a gangster past, is not individual to black culture. It’s individual to so many cultures in American society. Italian, Irish, Jewish, so to me this is an American Dream story.
The interview also points out some of the other potential casting choices including ncluding Monique, Wesley Snipes, and hilariously enough, Bill Cosby. In any case, this revelation partially explains the scene where Lucious plays a Jay song in his own club.
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