By
Ural Garrett. This week,
HipHopDX chatted with rapper/actor
Bryshere Gray a.k.a.
Yazz about his role as
Empire Enterprise’s prince
Hakeem Lyon. Television’s first great hour-long musical drama of
2015,
Empire, has become a water cooler conversation initiator after making its debut earlier this month. Starring
Terrence Howard and
Taraji P. Henson, the
FOX series has already been dubbed Hip Hop’s equivalent to
ABC’s insanely popular country music-based
Nashville.
Focused on record label and media company
Empire Enterprise,
Howard stars as
Lucious Lyon; former drug dealer turned rapper who has built the American dream through even more questionable means. This is where
Henson’s portrayal of ex-wife
Cookie Lyon comes in. Recently released from prison after a seventeen year sentence for drug charges, Cookie wants half of Empire Enterprise as cash gained through illicit dealings funded the company’s early beginnings. A huge bulk of the drama also comes through Lucious’ recent diagnosis of ALS and which of his three sons get control after his eventual death.
This leads to an interesting power struggle between executive eldest son
Andre, singer/songwriter middle child
Jamal and hot-headed aspiring rapper and youngest sibling
Hakeem. Already a hit with both viewers and critics,
Empire takes inspiration from news and rumors that have spread throughout Hip Hop for decades. Those with both underlying and surface level knowledge of the culture are bound to have a grand time naming those varying aspects.
With that in mind,
DX will be presenting a weekly series based around the show entitled “
Empire State Of Mind” which will recap episodes and offer insight into possibly inspired scenarios among others. This week,
DX chats with rapper/actor
Bryshere Gray a.k.a.
Yazz about his role as
Empire Enterprise’s prince
Hakeem Lyon. Besides his role as one of
Lucious’ potential heirs, the Philly native breaks down life before and after
Empire, working with
Timbaland and “
Drip Drop.”
DX: How’d you get the nickname Yazz?Yazz: Yazz was something I created while trying to form a rap flow and it just turned into that. I didn’t want something that sounded now, just something different.
*hiphopdx.com
