‘Empire’ is the hip-hop ‘Dynasty’ of this era

Now Fox, with its hip-hop drama “Empire,” has brought Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson’s demanding, egomaniacal Cookie Lyon to the forefront. Her deliciously nutty character has helped the show increase its viewership five weeks running after it debuted January 7, a rare feat in TV land.

On Feb. 11, overnight viewership hit a series high 11.9 million, with weeklong DVR usage lifting that to more than 15 million. It instantly became Fox’s biggest show, eclipsing “Gotham” and “American Idol.” The drama has been the No. 1 scripted program the past month in Atlanta, where “Empire” draws a bigger share of the audience than any other top 25 city — more than Chicago, Philadelphia or Los Angeles. The only market that draws more actual viewers is New York, where the show is based.

“Atlanta understands the celebrity nature of the show,” said Tirrell Whittley, who runs Atlanta-based Liquid Soul Media, a marketing firm which has worked with Fox to promote “Empire.” “The show delivers on every pressure point that Atlanta has to offer from an entertainment perspective: the music, the fashion, the visuals, even the artwork on the walls; some of those artists are based out of Atlanta.”

Fox made “Empire” a mid-season priority, fueling awareness among social media active black female viewers who already imbibe shows such as VH1’s trashy reality hit “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta” and ABC’s political juggernaut “Scandal.”

“When people are talking about it on social media and asking friends to watch, black folks of a certain age feel they have to so they can have that conversation with their friends the next day,” said Eric Deggans, National Public Radio’s TV critic.

“Empire’s” pedigree is strong. Lee Daniels (“The Butler”) is an executive producer. Terrence Howard, channelling his Oscar-nominated pimp/hustler/rapper role in 2005’s ‘Hustle & Flow,” plays Lucious Lyon, a former drug dealer who became a wealthy hip-hop mogul along the lines of P. Diddy and Dr. Dre.

But Lucious is keeping a secret from his family: he has Lou Gehrig’s Disease, a frequently fatal degenerative nerve disease with no known cure.

Lucious plans to pass his empire to one of his sons but each has baggage. He has high hopes turning his youngest Hakeem into a hip-hop superstar but is well aware of his immaturity. Oldest son Andre is the business mastermind but has a bipolar disorder and lacks musical chops. Middle son Jamal is a talented singer but his father can’t accept the fact he’s gay.

The set up evokes Shakespeare’s “King Lear” and the show isn’t shy about inviting comparisons. (Some show titles are lines from Shakespearean plays.).

Adding to Lucious’s growing mountain of problems is Cookie, his ex-wife who took the fall 17 years earlier for drug dealing and just came out of prison. She isn’t afraid to remind everyone she helped start the record label with Lucious and wants to make up for lost time butting into his business. She still loves Lucious, too, but she isn’t getting reciprocal treatment.

During the Feb. 11 episode, after Lucious left Cookie a nostalgic anniversary rose, she shows up to a family dinner ready to get her groove on. But when Lucious announces an engagement to record executive and rival Anika, Cookie angrily throws the rose at Lucious and opens her fur coat to reveal what she is wearing underneath: just lingerie.

“You think I dressed like this for a friendly get together?” she hisses. Then she shows Anika her posterior before waltzing out the door.

Women especially embrace Cookie. “I love Cookie,” said Sasha the Diva, a mid-day host on R&B station Kiss 104.1. “I love how she talks. She keeps it real.”

Roland Martin, a former CNN analyst who hosts a TV One talk show each morning “News One Now,” live tweets “Empire” to his 314,000 followers.

“African Americans are tastemakers,” Martin said. “Most hip-hop music is consumed by white kids. You have this cultural force converging together and it’s no shock ratings are going up.” He said Fox saw the rise of “Scandal,” a favorite show of his as well, and has successfully tapped into that audience as well.