One of the creators of Fox TV’s hip hop soap opera ‘Empire’ says the main character, nurse Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard), look is loosely based on aging rap mogul Jay Z, left.

The only comparisons I see between Lucious Lyon and Jay Z’s life stories are their criminal histories, they are rappers, and they own record labels. The similarities end there.

But an argument can be made that singer Beyonce is as loud and obnoxious as Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) when she wants to be. And just like Lucious’s son Jamal (Jussie Smollet) was confused about his sexuality as a child, the paparazzi often confuse Blue Ivy for a little boy.

‘Empire’ creator Danny Strong was a guest on Sway in the morning show this week. He discussed Jay Z overcoming his criminal past to rise to power in the rap world.

“The Jay-Z story, which very much inspired Lucious Lyon, certain elements of Lucious Lyon, was that story,” Strong responded. “For me the story of people who have some sort of criminal past, or gangster past are not limited to black culture. … Our goal is to tell a great story, and to do the best show we can. You can cross the line and just be totally inappropriate, but we’re not doing that. … You know, [Kennedy patriarch] Joe Kennedy too, is another (person who rose to power from a criminal past).”