Image via Complex Original
This time last year, it wasn't hard to champion Empire as one of the best shows on television; Fox found a winner that not only brought back the insanity and drama of prime time soap operas to the Twitterverse, but it did so with show-stealing performances from queens like Taraji P. Henson. It was escapism for the hip-hop generation, even if it was dated, at times.
Empire returned to television for season two in September of 2015, not giving fans much breathing room after its season one finale in March of the same year, and while the ratings were still solid, there was a terrible decline that had many fans worried. Well, that and the fact that season two has felt a bit too "extra": extra drama, extra cast members, and extra plotlines that, no matter how twisty and turny they were, never proved to make the show more interesting or, more importantly, return it back to the essence of what made season one so magical.
Interestingly enough, Twitter erupted on numerous occasions regarding some of the more absurd and ridiculous story points, whether it be Lucious recording "Snitch B*tch" in a prison utility closet to that massive battle between Hakeem and Freda Gatz. The show appeared to go off the deep-end, my hitta, but you'd be surprised at how realistic some of these moments actually were. With season two returning for its final string of episodes, it's time to reflect on some of these insane story beats, and examine how some of these moments actually played out IRL.
Recording music in prison
While it's hard to believe that Lucious Lyon could record a banger like "Snitch Bitch" in a prison utility closet featuring nothing but a microphone, some guy playing a controller hooked up to a laptop like he doesn't know how to loop sounds, and some jokers singing and banging on a garbage can, the idea that music hasn't been recorded while in prison is absurd. Everyone from Mac Dre to Max B have recorded songs while locked up, and while the quality of their vocals varies, we've been brought up on incarcerated MCs still finding the time to spread their message from behind the walls.
Just don't expect a makeshift studio setup as elaborate as this one, my hitta my hitta MY HITTA!
Artists leaking their own music
In the second episode of season two of Empire, hotheaded Hakeem decided to take matters into his own hands and leaked his album to the Internets. While the family behind Empire wasn't feeling his decision, the leak actually helped keep Hakeem's name out there. While it looked remedial af (what website did he even USE?), it's not anything new. In recent memory, acts like Angel Haze and Death Grips have leaked their own albums after disputes with their labels. While those situations didn't exactly pan out beautifully (Haze's project ended up getting an earlier release date, but sold next to no copies), they did at the very LEAST get the public discussing these acts.
Some acts of desperation can be spun into gold if the chips fall properly.
All streaming everything
One of the weirder subplots in this season of Empire has to be the idea that Lucious, a man who was adamant about the "digital" age destroying their business, was suddenly so gung-ho in signing up with Swift Stream, a music streaming business. It was a source of contention set up to drive a rift between Lucious and Mimi, but came off as being another sideplot that divulged from the real meat of the series.
In any case, if you're keeping up with music at all, this is a very real concern. The Big Three record labels have sunk their teeth deep into SoundCloud, essentially turning it into the new Spotify, while services like Tidal are digging into securing exclusives from artists while changing the way play counts are being given to the likes of Billboard. While none of these services seem to be turning a real profit, there appears to be a mad dash to secure something with a digital streaming service in hopes that, in the near future, no one is left ashore.
The crowd decides the winner
One of the more captivating scenes (at least for the #EmpireFOX heads on Twitter) was the season two, episode eight battle between Freda Gatz and Hakeem Lyon. Their animosity was being built throughout the preceding episodes, with Freda (who has bars like THAT) openly calling out Hakeem at seemingly any chance she got. The battle ended up being Lucious' Empire label versus Cookie's Lyon Dynasty, Freda's raw lyrics versus Hakeem's flashier style. If this was left to bars alone, Freda would've destroyed Hakeem...but that's not what went down.
While battle culture is always about who hits whom the hardest, there's a LOT that can be said for crowd participation. Just go to YouTube and look at any of the URLTV.tv battles that go down; an excited crowd can lend a lot of credence to a particular line, no matter how weak it may seem. In this writer's opinion, Freda ate Hakeem for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—lyrically—but Hakeem ended up having the more memorable darts, similar to how Jay Z's "Takeover" ended up being the better diss over Nas' "Ether," primarily because it was a better song than "Ether." Sure, you can spit all kinds of hot fire at your opponent, but if they come back with something that not only hits, but has the crowd chanting? All bets are off.
Hell, don't we all remember how Drake's "Back to Back" became a club BANGER, having everyone chanting his diss at Meek Mill? That's the ultimate diss, and no matter how Hakeem can come off, his stage presence and song quality ended up eating Freda's food.
Ultimately, these ridiculous moments are what MAKES Empire what it is. When the writers miss the mark, Empire can turn into a chore, but these outrageous moments, in hindsight, are some of the tentpoles of the season. With another eight episodes left in this season's run, the hope is that Empire continues on the hot streak that it was on during the mid-season finale...and that we get more "so ridiculous it's true" moments before season's end.