Hakeem, one of the main characters within the series, is the youngest and once-favorite son of hip-hop mogul Lucious (Terrence Howard) and his wife Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson).
Lucious announces plans to take the company to the NYSE, and he wants to groom Hakeem into his successor and the future CEO.
Due to his laziness, Hakeem incessantly asks his older brother and best friend Jamal (Jussie Smollett) to help him write and compose melodies for his songs.
Cookie and Lucious pit Jamal and Hakeem against one another in a competition to see who is more talented and who should be Empire's CEO, with both having upcoming album release dates.
[1] Hakeem's haughtiness reaches new heights when he makes a viral video condemning Barack Obama and insulting white people.
Hakeem's oldest brother Andre (Trai Byers) has his wife Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) leak a video of Tiana making out with a female model to the internet.
Although initially frustrated and disinterested in continuing his relationship with his bisexual girlfriend, Hakeem decides to pretend that he and Tiana are a couple because Lucious and Cookie believe that the two will sell better together as an act than apart.
Hakeem then sleeps with Lucious' ex-fiance Anika Calhoun (Grace Gealey), and he and Andre team with her and his mother to obtain Empire for themselves.
Hakeem is furious when Lucious buys the radio station to keep Lyon Dynasty off the air and signs Valentina to Empire.
When both Empire and Lyon Dynasty are investigated by the FBI due to Vernon's recent disappearance, Hakeem once again questions if Lucious killed Bunkie.
To present a united front in public, Jamal and Hakeem team up to do a video shoot for "Ain't About The Money" during which Lucious tries to lure him back to Empire.
He gets involved in a beef with another rapper, Gram (Romeo Miller), who starts dating Tiana and they kiss in front of a surprised Hakeem during a performance.
Hakeem eventually finds out about this from Lucious whilst performing with Jamal in his house on Empire XStream, their streaming service.
Hakeem comforts Tiana afterwards and during an outdoor performance, he kisses her and tells her he can't wait for her to meet Bella.
He described Lucious as the devil, says he wishes Cookie was still in prison, calls Andre crazy and unstable and expresses unhappiness with Jamal's drug addiction.
When the Lyons crash the Captain's Ball held by the DuBois, Hakeem and Jamal perform a song that disses Diana.
He makes her sign the papers handing Bella back to him and he tells Anika that the fighting stops now and to never forget that he has the videos.
Hakeem's family life seems stable but his youngest son, Prince, has built a strong bond with Tiana's current boyfriend, Devon.
He summons the family to a meeting on set and tells them he won't be taking part in further shooting unless the script is amended.
When they perform at an Empire trailer launch party, Hakeem wants to take things further but Tiana tells him that it was a mistake.
At Becky's birthday party, Hakeem tries to talk to Tiana but she isn't interested and proceeds to perform a song about him and Maya.
The next day, Hakeem shows Maya the review and tells her he will wait until the movie premiere to get her to sign the annulment papers.
Gray commonly known as rapper "Yazz The Greatest" had been cast in the role of Hakeem, the youngest son of Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson).
[13] The role was initially to be played by actor, rapper and singer Quincy, the son of hip hop mogul, Sean "Diddy" Combs.
[18] Gray took advice from actors Will Smith and Jamie Foxx in preparing for the role when they told him "if you feel like you're embarrassed, when you're acting, you're doing something perfect.
"[22] Gray said that Hakeem is "emotionally and mentally hurt by [Cookie's absence] so he goes out and loves older women because he gets this type of affection that he hasn't gotten from his mother.
"[21] Hakeem feels a sense of "security" in his romance with the much older Camilla Marks, played by Naomi Campbell.
[10] Though Hakeem "deeply" loves Camilla, he also takes an interest in label mate Tiana (Serayah McNeill).
[21] Of the character's growth and acceptance of his mother, Los Angeles Times said "we can put the brooms away; he's finally acting his age, not his shoe size.
Gennis said her investment in Hakeem stemmed from the character's motives being so easy to understand and his intriguing dynamics with the other characters—specifically his parents' and brother Jamal.