Fox Drama Co-Creator Says Kanye West Inspired ‘Empire’ As Jussie Smollett’s ‘So What’ Goes Viral

'Empire' Star Jussie Smollett — Cast member Jussie Smollett attends a screening of the television series "Empire" in Los Angeles March 12, 2015. REUTERS/Phil McCarten Reuters/Phil McCarten

Fox drama “Empire” ended its first season on March 18 with a record-breaking rating and, recently, one of the creators revealed that Kanye West did inspire the creation of the high-rated TV series starring Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson and Jussie Smollett.

Lee Daniels’ “Empire” co-creator Danny Strong had a classical inspiration with Shakespeare quotes used as titles of most of the series’ episodes. On the other hand, the hip-hop–inflected vocabularies used in the show appear to be inspired by Kim Kardashian’s husband.

In a recent interview with told KCRW's The Business, Strong said, “To procrastinate and for inspiration, I started watching Kanye West interviews. After 45 minutes, I said, “All right, I’m good. I know how to do this.”

With 21.1 million viewers, “Empire” season 1 finale is the highest-rated freshman finale since May 22, 2005, when ABC’s medical drama “Grey Anatomy” season 1 finale attracted 22.22 million viewers.

Joining Howard, Henson and Smollett in the “Empire” cast are Malik Yoba, Trai Byers, Bryshere Y. Gray, Jennifer Hudson, Gabourey Sidibe, Naomi Campbell, AzMarie Livingston and Grace Gealey among others. Among the highlights of “Empire” Season 1 finale titled “Who I Am” is Smollett’s performance of the song “So What.” Watch a clip of his performance here: