The Real People Behind Empire

Lee Daniels told Adweek that Lucius is based on "many shades of me," but the juicier explanation is: "He's a lot a bit of Berry Gordy, a lot a bit of Joe Kennedy." The Kennedys may seem like a far leap from the Lyons, but Daniels equates Joe Kennedy's rise to power through bootlegging with Lucious's drug dealing.

Daniels also drew inspiration for Lucious from his own father, even though his dad was a cop in Philadelphia instead of a drug kingpin-turned-music-mogul. Remember that heart-wrenching scene in which Lucious puts Jamal in the trash can for wearing his mother’s heels? That really happened.

Daniels told the story to the graduating class of Ohio State University: “When I was five, my earliest memory was walking down the stairs in my mother’s red high heel shoes, and my dad — he’s a cop — is down playing cards with the boys and it was not pretty — at all. He put me in a trash can and he said that I would never be nothing. He said, 'You already have it bad, boy, cause you're black — now you're a f*ggot too.'"

Cocreator Danny Strong came right out and told the Sway in the Morning radio show that Lucious is inspired by Jay Z. Strong cited Jay Z's criminal past as the source of Lucious's drug-game experience.

Yet there are a ton of other opinions out there as well. Vulture thinks Lucious might be more than a little bit Suge Knight, who founded Death Row Records, and was also rumored to have been involved in the deaths of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.

Sean "Diddy" Combs is rumored to have filed a lawsuit against the show, claiming it ripped off his life story for the character of Lucious.

Queen Cookie seems like she's one of a kind, but, in fact, she bears some resemblance to other music mavens and lady bosses.

Vulture thinks Cookie is a mix of industry mavens: "40 percent Foxy Brown, 40 percent Lil' Kim, 20 percent Mary J. Blige," because these women embody "her sacrificial incarceration [that] no doubt helped put Empire Records on the map."

Daniels's grandmother and drug-dealing sister are Cookie's kick-ass predecessors, although his mother really did beat him with a broom. He told Adweek "my mother's a little bit of Cookie, but really my grandmother is Cookie, [as is] my sister. My grandmother was a corrupt politician in the '60s. She had many of the judges in her pocket in Philadelphia — and she carried a gun. She would get blacks to come out and vote. And my sister was a drug dealer, as many of my friends were."

Taraji P. Henson herself says she draws inspiration from her own father. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, she said, "He had no buffer. He spoke the truth." Cookie, like Henson's father, doesn't care much about being politically correct.

Just like with Lucious, Cookie has folks claiming the show stole their story. Sophia Eggleston claims that Empire used her life story, suing the creators for $300 million.

If it's up to us, Jamal can be anybody he wants to be, but a lot of people think Jamal might be a nod to Frank Ocean. It’s probably because of his handsome face, silky smooth voice, and low-key rap skills. But it also might be because, like Jamal, Frank Ocean also came out in a pretty public way, announcing it via Tumblr in 2012.

There's talk that Hakeem's character might be rapper Tyga because of his age and cocky swagger, but I'm more inclined to think he's a healthy mix of Diggy Simmons and Big Sean, like Vulture does. Diggy is the son of superfamous music juggernaut Rev. Run of Run-D.M.C. fame, and he sort of cashed in on his father's fame. From a distance, Hakeem might sound a little like Big Sean, and his taste in the ladies is a strong case for that comparison.

Poor Andre. He gets all the Lyon headaches without any of the Lyon talent. But true to form, he's the fictional counterpart to some folks you've probably never heard of. Vulture suggests that Andre is also inspired by real people: "half Damon Dash, the Roc-a-Fella Records founder who ended up in debt after bad money decisions, and half Jared Kushner, a successful and trendy entrepreneur who took over his family's real-estate business but definitely wouldn't know his way around a recording studio."

Also, here are some other interesting comparisons:

Anika = Sylvia Rhone, former president of Universal Motown; current president of Epic Records.

Rhonda = Rachel Roy, fashion designer and ex-wife to Damon Dash (our Andre).

Tiana = Rihanna. She has a similar sound, and her general vibe just screams Ri-Ri.