It’s undeniable that hip hop and rap music have permeated every aspect of American culture. Even the heavy metal crowd conceded this was true nearly 20 years ago, when Kid Rock added rap and record scratching to his live shows. It’s hard to name all the movies made about the genre, but now we have something different coming our way.  Fox have begun production preparations for “Empire;” a series that follows the behind-the-scenes life of a hip-hop family music business.

Director Lee Daniels, Danny Strong (The Butler) and Brian Grazer (“A beautiful mind”, “Apollo 13″) want to give the audience an inside view of the hip hop world and feature new music and some current hits on the show.

Currently casting lead roles for the up-coming pilot, “The show is seeking to fill 2 roles for African Americans. Both roles are for males. They are seeking to fill the role of Hakeem, described as a ringer / rapper who is about 20 years old and Jamal, a singer who is about 24 years of age.”

Heery casting of Philadelphia recently posted the casting call for the pilot episode:

 “The website deadline.com has reported that the project reportedly sparked a bidding war among the 4 major broadcast networks last year and the FOX television has ordered a pilot. The project is being produced by 20th Century FOX and Imagine Entertainment which was founded by Grazer and Ton Howard in 1986. The show is set to be a hour long TV drama series.

Danny Strong will be writing the script for the pilot  and Lee Daniels (“Monster’s Ball”) is rumored to be directing the project. This is a new project and there is no word yet as to who else may have been cast in this new Fox pilot.”

For Those interested in auditioning for the lead roles an online audition form has been set up here. Learn more from AuditionsFree.com