Lucious’s comeback on the radio waves with his trap-styled Snitch Bitch from last week’s episode may not have been everyone’s cup of tea. But now the Lyon family patriarch is out of prison the dynamics of Empire have shifted again. The brothers Lyon are all trying to negotiate their relationship with Lucious; Cookie is trying to keep her startup label afloat; and can Hakeem’s love interest survive the show’s 60-minute lifespan?
‘That’s just a building. I am The Empire’
Roxanne Ford is visibly annoyed that the judge granted Lucious bail and lets the world know about it during a press conference on the courthouse steps. When asked about her likely run for public office (she’s rumoured to be after the position of attorney general), she dodges implications that her focus on Lucious Lyon has any chance of hampering those ambitions. Lucious quips as he and his entourage leave the court that he’ll “contribute to her campaign”. Meanwhile, Cookie is on a tear, escorting Hakeem to his radio interview which takes place at this week’s real-life location: Sway in the Morning. Hakeem has advanced his relationship with Valentina (Becky G) and like a good mother, producer and consciousness of the audience, Cookie pops Hakeem upside his well-manicured head (“That’s an Unsung episode waiting to happen, stupid.”) Cookie, forever the bearer of bad news, informs Hakeem that his father is out of jail and that they have to act quickly to make Lyon Dynasty, their new label, competitive before Lucious gathers more strength. As a condition of bail, Lucious is banned from entering Empire’s corporate headquarters, but it doesn’t stop “a king from speaking to his subjects”, Jamal notes. And Lucious being Lucious, corrects young Lyon and channels Kanye West: “Blasphemy. I’m a God.”
‘… That boy got a lot to growing up to do’
Hakeem debuts his Timbaland-produced single Bout 2 Blow and proves to the audience that he’s got better bars than Lucious’s from last week, which by all accounts would not be hard. The takeaway from this is that he might actually have a hit record that could be a formidable tool against his father and Empire. Sway asks what his father thinks, leading to an on-air phone call with Lucious who learns that Hakeem leaked his album online.
Lucious invites the entire family to his den for an extravagant meal offering forgiveness. That’s before he threatens the failed corporate coup members: “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we war.” Typical Lyon family dinner conversation is filled with bravado, charm and threats. Andre pines for his father’s forgiveness; Lucious is rigid. Hakeem doesn’t want to come back to Empire, he’s got a taste of independence from working with his mother to build a new company. Cookie fearless and indignant as always, reminds Lucious she’s not a fan of being lectured to and walks out dragging the tablecloth with the entire meal from the table.
Lucious lures Anika, the Boo Boo Kitty herself, to the club to try to form an alliance to sink Lyon Dynasty before it gains its footing. Back at Lyon Dynasty headquarters, Hakeem flexes his producer muscles but locks horns with his mother’s instincts as they scramble to get Menage a Trois, and its lead diva Valentina in shape for a profile debut. Andre attempts to win his father’s love and job back by bringing him a tip for Apex radio acquisition to expand Empire’s reach and lock out competition. Lucious sends Frank Gather’s daughter (and hands down, the freshest MC to guest-appear on Empire), Frida “Young Ma” (Bre-Z Murphy) to Empire urging Jamal to get her to sign with them. But daughter like father doesn’t trust the brass ring they hand to her, and storms out with her crew.
‘You’re forgetting what I need as your artist and as your son’
Jamal rightly wonders where he fits into Lucious’ plans. Lucious tells Jamal that Young Ma is “that raw sound” that he’s looking for and plans to revive an old label, Gutter Life Records. Anika returns to the Dynasty to talk “the baddest bitch ever including all the animal prints that populate your wardrobe” AKA Cookie disclosing her conversation with Lucious. Cookie and Boo Boo Kitty dream up a plan to hurt Lucious setting up the obvious stage, a welcome back party at the Leviticus, Lucious’s nightclub. The party is popping; Jamal and Pitbull perform a clubby hype joint but are bum rushed by another new Hakeem single, Dynasty. We’re seeing in small, yet spectacular measure that Hakeem is growing up, and is coming for the crown of the King Lucious. Pitbull and Cookie chat in brief about the Lyon Dynasty squad before she and Hakeem are thrown out the club. Jamal sneers at their performance, while Lucious smugly looks on. He’s clearly got a plan in mind.
‘Sometimes, you gotta pull at those heartstrings to get paid’
After all that stuntin’ from the other night, Lyon Dynasty office phones ring off the hook. Sway catches Cookie on a call and praises the new label’s entrance as they reminisce about one of hip-hop’s greatest moments. “We bringing that real hip-hop back,” Cookie proclaims. Meanwhile, Menage a Trois throw zingers at each other as they feel the pressure for their debut on Sway’s radio show (“You couldn’t find a C major if it was right between your legs!”). Andre stops by for solid mom advice, as well as to tell her that she’s about to become a grandmother. Cookie is elated, of course. She urges him to share the news with his father in the hopes that it may persuade Lucious to accept Andre back into Empire. It doesn’t. Lucious’s reception of Andre’s news was eclipsed by another flashback to young Lucious and his mother (Kelly Rowland) during what appears to be a manic episode, alluding to a family history of mental illness.
Later, Lucious creeps on a rap battle somewhere in maybe Brownsville, Brooklyn, where Young Ma is engaged in a tête-à-tête with a whack MC. He plays below the belt, makes a dig about her father, calls her “female”, a loaded pejorative that means to diminish her shine and skill. Young Ma, being her father’s daughter, pulls out a gun to pop his head off. Lucious steps in stop her, pleading, “Don’t do something that you can’t come back from.” They all scatter when the police sirens seem to come closer.
Roxanne Ford’s ambitions have sent her solo stalking Lucious, and she intercepts him and Thirsty not far from the Brownsville playground where the cypher could have been tragic. This may be the clearest inkling to both Thirsty and Lucious that she doesn’t have much of case because Vernon may not be “cooperating”.
‘I’m a singer not a soldier’
Cookie whips Menage a Trois into shape working them like Debbie Allen in Fame. The trio rehearses choreography for Do It until their bodies break and their will is tested. And yet again, Hakeem is impressed by his mom’s management skills and vision. Jamal misses his mom, swallows his pride and heads to Dynasty’s offices but Lucious stops him, ever the creeper, lurking behind tinted windows of Maybachs. He tells Jamal yet another thing he’s always wanted to hear: Lucious will produce Jamal’s next record himself and make him a star.
Hakeem and Cookie wait anxiously in the green room at Sway’s morning show for Valentina, who is conspicuously late. Lucious walks in smugly celebratory, informing them that Empire has acquired Apex Radio, which broadcasts Sway’s show, and can shut Lyon Dynasty out of urban radio markets, and finally – the coup de grâce – that he poached Valentina from their label to sign with Empire.
Reading list
- Bryshere Y Gray AKA Yazz AKA Hakeem talked about working with Timbaland at Billboard.
- This week’s episode was written by Attica Locke, who chatted with PostBourgie’s Gene Demby and Terryn Hall.
Notes and Observations
- Dynasty is a certifiable banger.
- Thirsty is slithering nicely into the role of new right-hand man for Lucious.
- Cookie balances business, street and motherhood better than we give her credit for.
- Lucious gotta be honest with Andre about his background with mental illness for everyone’s sake.
- Most importantly for the art nerds in the room, peep the black art collector game in Cookie Lyon’s office. Yes, you did spot work from Mikalene Thomas. YASS.
- Not too sure about the Javert-esque antics of Roxanne Ford to be honest. What’s she doing following Lucious to hood for? That scene felt a bit forced.
