Rappers: DJ Naida and MC Melodee

MC Melodee is a rapper from Amsterdam who grew up listening to cassette tapes of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. From a young age Melodee says she loved playing with language and creating rhymes. Melodee says she went to university to please her parents, but when she graduated she chose a career in music, rather than a steady office job. That decision paid off and now MC Melodee has rocked venues around the world and set up her own female collective, Dam Dutchess, to coach, promote and encourage talented young women in the industry.

DJ Naida is from Zimbabwe's capital Harare and has also worked in an all-female collective of rappers from different African nations. She describes herself as "a social commentator", with a personal style influenced by "old school" artists such as Lauryn Hill, Tupac and Coolio. When she was starting out in rap Naida was shaken by a music producer's warning that, "you really can't rap, anyway it's not for females, you really shouldn't be doing it - stick to the singing you'll probably make more money with it". She gave up, but eventually came back to it and proved that she could be a successful rapper -- and that same producer is now one of her biggest supporters.

(Photo left: DJ Naida. Photo right: MC Melodee. Credit: Dear Productions)