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When Lita Rosario-Richardson was a teenager, she attended the famed Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in Boston 鈥� spending her afternoons studying music theory, taking piano lessons, designing costumes and practicing ballet, African and modern dance. In ways she couldn鈥檛 comprehend then, she was building a foundation for her future.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 particularly artistic. But I loved the arts,鈥� said Rosario-Richardson, who now leads the entertainment practice at .

That love ultimately brought her back to entertainment after starting down a path toward journalism with a bachelor鈥檚 in communications from Howard University. She followed that up with a law degree from Howard鈥檚 School of Law, early work in securities and investment law in New York City, and then a job at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington.

But then, things took a turn. It just so happens that one of her Howard roommates was Crystal Waters. Yes, that听. 鈥淪he called and told me she was offered a recording contract, and she needed a lawyer to help negotiate the contract for her.鈥�

The album included the hit 鈥淕ypsy,鈥� and it went platinum. The work on that contract for Waters kicked off , and she never looked back. She has since counseled and helped numerous singers and songwriters. Think SisQ贸, Missy Elliott, Mr. Cheeks, Das EFX, Big Pun and Peaches & Herb, to name just a few.

鈥淓ven the communications and journalism ended up being very helpful to me in entertainment law. It feels like everything ended up fitting together: my corporate law background and my knowledge of contracts 鈥� sophisticated contracts 鈥攂ecause recording contracts, in particular music and film contracts, are actually very sophisticated contracts,鈥� said Rosario-Richardson, whose specialty lies in entertainment contracts as well as helping artists with copyright issues and recapturing ownership of their work.

鈥淭hese companies use major law firms to draft contracts that sometimes kids are signing, and they鈥檙e presented with these sophisticated contracts that can affect their entire careers.鈥�

Hip hop celebrates the big 5-0

With her knowledge of entertainment law, involvement with numerous Black musical artists, work with the Recording Academy鈥檚 D.C. chapter and leadership of the Hip Hop Caucus鈥� Education Fund , Rosario-Richardson shared her thoughts with 海角社区app about what resonates for her as hip hop music marks its 50th anniversary.

Hip hop鈥檚 birthday, August 11, kicks off a year of events to celebrate the Black American music genre, widely attributed to DJ Kool Herc, who for Herc鈥檚 sister in New York City鈥檚 South Bronx. Hip hop mixes DJing, spoken word and rapping, break dancing and graffiti.

During her years working with Black musical artists, Rosario-Richardson has seen the hip hop genre inspire and drive change as a cultural phenomenon. It has even inspired her to help fight for and gain rights for artists, she said.

The genre is about more than music, having always had a focus on justice and change, Rosario-Richardson said. And though there will be much looking back over the course of the coming year as the world celebrates hip hop鈥檚 lasting impact, she鈥檚 looking ahead to what鈥檚 possible next.

What鈥檚 on the horizon for hip hop in the next 50 years?

鈥淗ip hop is going to continue culturally, in the media and in the arts, to have an impact,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut what I鈥檓 hopeful for is that the creators of hip hop in the future have a better opportunity to own their work and to control the income from rights and to really be properly compensated for it.鈥�

There鈥檚 long been a history of songwriters receiving more compensation than artists.

鈥淣ow, there鈥檚 the American Music Fairness Act pending. It would allow recording artists to be paid when their music is played on broadcast radio, which right now they鈥檙e not 鈥� only the songwriters are paid,鈥� Rosario-Richardson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that can pass and provide significant income for the artists themselves, which is well deserved in the United States. It is one of the only major industrialized countries that does not pay that money to artists.鈥�

She also is hopeful that the future will create opportunities for more women to enter the industry in roles other than as performers.

鈥淵ou virtually see no women as producers. You see songwriting, but their songwriting credit is usually lyrics 鈥� not the musical composition. And it鈥檚 not that women don鈥檛 compose music. It鈥檚 just that for some reason, we鈥檙e not properly represented,鈥� Rosario-Richardson said.

The ability for women to become more prominent across the entertainment industry will be more possible going forward because hip hop and digital technologies have continued to erode the power of the studio system, she pointed out.

鈥淪tudios are no longer relevant because you don鈥檛 need a studio to make commercial-quality music anymore,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can do it all digitally.鈥�

At first, hip hop artists took dual record players and, through 鈥渟cratching,鈥� turned them into instruments. They also used looping to digitally layer the same pieces of music over and over, while incorporating in other elements, to create the musical beds for songs. Over time, they have used other digital accessories 鈥� for instance, the talk box, which uses mouth sounds to affect an instrument鈥檚 output 鈥� to propel the hip hop sound forward alongside the growth of rap from spoken word.

None of that is going to stop, Rosario-Richardson said.

鈥淣ow, we have artificial intelligence, and we have no idea where AI is going to take us, particularly with hip hop. I know there are people out there experimenting now. We鈥檒l see where it goes. A lot of the success of hip hop or the development of hip hop lives side by side with this digital revolution that we鈥檝e gone through 鈥� because it wouldn鈥檛 have been possible without it.鈥�