Shami, a San Francisco native with a background in music and tech, founded Empire as a digital distribution company focused on hip hop and rap.

Raised in San Francisco, he grew up listening to Bay Area artists such as Too Short, Spice 1, RBL Posse, Souls of Mischief, Luniz, JT the Bigga Figga, and Rappin' 4-Tay.

Equally interested in music and technology, in college he worked at the tech companies Sun Microsystems, Eloquent Technologies and Audio Highway; he later worked at Hyde Street Studios, where he engineered and mixed music by artists including Messy Marv, Planet Asia and Too Short.

While he had written code and built out streaming media sites since he was a teenager, at INgrooves, he learned about the intricacies of digital distribution, artist contracts, and royalties.

Helping to build the company's rap division, he signed DIY artists representative of the Bay Area sound and culture, often introducing them to online revenue streams.

"[3] Initially focused on rap, Empire's backend technology bypassed the existing digital distribution system and delivered music directly to streaming and retail platforms quickly to capitalize on the viral momentum of the genre's traditional rapid-fire releases.

Contracts were non-exclusive and proprietary software allowed managers and artists to easily track royalties, which were paid monthly.

[9][10] In 2018, Tina Davis, previously an artist manager and a head of A&R at Def Jam, was named SVP of A&R,[11] and a partnership with L.A. Reid's Hitco was announced.

[16] In 2019, Empire Latino had its first hit with Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Jay Wheeler; as of 2023, his song La Curiosidad was 8× platinum.

Initial signings included Illmind, Nebu Kiniza, Dr Zeus and Empire artists Young Dolph, Key Glock, Mozzy, Fireboy DML, Yung Bleu and RJMrLA.

[20] In partnership with Olamide and his label, YBNL Nation,[21] Empire Africa's first signing was Nigerian Afrobeats artist Fireboy DML.