Empire 1×04 Promo “False Imposition”

Empire 1×04 “False Imposition” – Lucious reveals to Anika he has ALS. With Empire’s reputation being threatened by the Creedmore label, he makes poaching their star rapper Titan his priority, despite Titan sitting in jail on an attempted murder charge. Meanwhile, Jamal and Michael move into a tiny apartment to begin their life together outside of Lucious’ payroll. Discovering that the media is lit up over the romance between Hakeem and Tiana, Lucious books them to perform a duet on the Teen Choice Awards nominations show at Leviticus, and orders them into the studio to record. Seeking to lure Titan over to Empire, Lucious and Anika meet with his managers and get caught in a drive-by shooting. Separately, Cookie appeals to Titan’s strict Muslim family, who reveal the shooting Titan was involved in was in retaliation for the torching of a community center. The police question Lucious about his whereabouts the night of Bunkie’s murder, and Andre lies to provide an alibi for him. When word gets out that Anika approached Titan in jail, Creedmore label head Billy Beretti confronts Lucious and tells him he’ll never get the rapper; a flashback reveals Beretti ripping off Lucious of millions. Tension rises between Anika and Cookie about her intervention into the duet between Hakeem and Tiana, but Lucious backs his ex-wife up. When Hakeem is late for dinner, Tiana goes to his apartment to discover him with Camilla. They perform their duet anyway, to rapturous response. During the show, Lucious visits Titan in jail and convinces him to join Empire, telling him he’ll rebuild the community center that burned. Lucious later thanks Cookie for her help in signing the star, but when she seeks validation from Hakeem as well, he refuses to acknowledge her role in either his career or family.