It may not be 50 Cent's cup of tea, but Empire has been the hottest new TV show of 2015.
There's clearly a "ripped from the headlines" element to it, so it's fun to speculate which real life figures the drama's oft-ridiculous characters are based on.
Danny Strong should have some good insight into this, since he c0-created the show with Lee Daniels.
The actor/writer/producer was asked by Sway in the Morning if Jay Z was the influence for family patriarch Lucious Lyon, and this is what he said:
"I've heard that, but there’s certainly some truth in that," Strong agreed. "The Jay Z story, which very much inspired Lucious Lyon, certain elements of Lucious Lyon, was that story."Strong, who's white, was also asked how he approaches writing black characters.
"So for me, I don’t think in terms of, 'Okay we have to be careful of certain things because of certain negative stereotypes.' I view it as, The entire cast is African-American, we’re gonna have all different types of characters, and we’re gonna tell good stories. We're not gonna sit here and play defense or think that our show is a representation as black culture in its entirety. It's not. It's just this story."The entire interview is below. For the latest Hip Hop tracks and news, follow us on Twitter.