LIFE IMITATES ART IN EMPIRE'S KINGDOM

Fox’s soapy smash Empire is becoming a genuine pop-culture phenomenon, growing its audience yet again this week and posting up numbers so huge the program is on pace to close the season as broadcast’s biggest scripted show.

Empire’s 18-49 audience has swelled a whopping 50% since the season premiere, with Wednesday’s episode hitting a viewership high of 14.2 million—and that’s just the preliminary number before VOD streams are counted.

Chronicling the fantasy world of the Lyon family and their fake takeover of the music industry, Empire is starting to move the needle on sales in the real music biz.

Two songs from Wednesday’s episode debuted in the Top 10 at iTunes. “Conqueror” featuring Estelle and Jussie Smollett is currently sitting at #3, while “You’re So Beautiful” featuring Smollett and Yazz is #9.

Estelle and Jussie tell the backstory of “Conqueror” in this clip on Vevo.

The Original Soundtrack from Season 1 of Empire (Columbia) contains 18 original songs executive produced by Timbaland and includes not just the cast but bona fide music stars like Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Rita Ora and Juicy J.

The album drops this Tuesday (3/10), and the preorders have it sitting inside the Top 5 at iTunes. It's projected to debut in the 75k range, with a chance to go higher. Can it hit 100k? There will be a new episode next Wednesday, which should help drive first-week sales.

Smollett, the actor who plays Jamal Lyon, revealed last week that he's secured a record deal on his own as an artist. “There will be a Jussie Smollett album. I signed to Columbia,” he said. “So, darling [laughs], I’m label mates with Beyoncé and Adele and Barbra Streisand.”

This is ironic considering Empire’s lead-in is American Idol—sooooo, a reality show firmly focused around the attainment of a record deal is now being inadvertently upstaged by the cast members of a scripted drama who, in reality, have already scored one.

Yup, truth is indeed stranger than fiction.