Fox's 'Empire' gets a Philly beat

THOSE KILLER SONGS you hear on Fox's hit hip-hop soap "Empire"? They're coming straight out of Philly.

Producer Jim Beanz, born James David Washington, works with superproducer Timbaland to create the pulse of the show. Beanz told me he creates about 90 percent of the music, working with local producer J. Nick and London's TroyBoi, with Timbaland overseeing the entire operation.

"Most of the music was done here, at my studio in Bryn Mawr, believe it or not," Beanz told me from the show's premiere in L.A. last week.

The second episode of the deliciously fun soap - created by West Philly's own Lee Daniels and starring Lafayette Hill's Terrence Howard as a Philly drug dealer-turned-hip-hop mogul - airs tonight on Fox at 9.

Beanz started working with Timbaland on Nelly Furtado's 2006 album, "Loose." He's worked with the likes of Whitney Houston, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Chris Brown.

Beanz told me that he has the music for the first 12 episodes written, often having to record music and make it fit a scene that hasn't even been shot yet, while grabbing actors to record his tunes in between scenes.

"People are going to really love ['Empire,' a] great show, great cast, great story line and great music, if I do say so myself, having done the bulk of it," Beanz said, laughing.

Former pro wrestler Mick Foley is trying his hand at a different type of grueling physical exercise. Angelo Cataldi announced that Foley will participate in this year's Wing Bowl 23, the annual chicken-wing-eating bacchanal hosted by 94.1 WIP every year on the Friday before the Super Bowl. Foley also will appear at the after-party, at SugarHouse casino.

Foley is no competitive-eating amateur. He's twice competed in Santa Claus, Ind.'s fruitcake competition, during which he had to down a pound of the holiday classic. But on air this morning he admitted that he was not the favorite to take down the cluckers.

"Perhaps I will even wear black Converse and my Rocky robe signed by [Sylvester] Stallone for this endeavor," Foley said. "always accepted me with open arms and win, lose or draw they know that I'm not going down without a fight."

Foley recently starred in and produced the documentary "I Am Santa Claus," directed by South Jersey's own Tommy Avallone and executive produced by WIP's program director, Spike Eskin. Catch it on Netflix Instant.

The Wing Bowl takes place Jan. 30 at the Wells Fargo Center. Tickets are available at wingbowl23.com/tickets.

This weekend marked a big milestone for Alex's Lemonade Stand. The annual Lemon Ball made more than $1 million, pushing the locally founded cancer-fighting charity over the $100 million mark since founder Alexandra "Alex" Scott, who passed away in 2004, set up her first front-yard lemonade stand in Penn Wynne.

* Brit pop star Sam Smith stopped by La Colombe's massive spot in Fishtown (1335 Frankford Ave.) yesterday before his show at the Liacouras Center. The "Stay With Me" singer wrote on Instagram, "To feed my unhealthy obsession with coffee I've decided to visit some amazing coffee shops on the road. This is my first stop in Philly!! F---ing glorious coffee haha x."

Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, who opened up his flagship namesake restaurant Morimoto (723 Chestnut St.) in 2001, guest-starred on CBS's "Hawaii Five-O" last Friday. In the show, Morimoto trains Kamekona (Taylor Wily) for a shrimp cook-off. At one point, Morimoto spits Kamekona's shrimp on the floor, and tells him to cook with his heart, not his head. "To be the best, you must search within yourself. Rediscover your passion!" Morimoto counsels.

Morimoto chef de cuisine Ben Dayag declined to comment on whether the Iron Chef has ever critiqued any of his shrimp like this before.

Watch the ep on CBS.com.

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