The female drum and bass MC who's encouraging more women to pick up the mic

She was once Cardiff's only female drum & bass MC but as part of collective Ladies of Rage, Gemma Smith is encouraging more women to pick up the mic.

Known as Missy G, Gemma made a name for herself in a music scene that rarely had a woman on the line-up.

''I started when I was 13 years of age,'' Gemma said.

''It all started out at a radio station that was in my mate's house. It was all just men, there was no female DJs, no female MCs.

''They wouldn't let me in the house, they wouldn't let me on the radio. So I wrote a few bars, I practiced them and one day I went to the house and knocked on the door. 'Let me in, let me in!', 'No you're not coming in!'

''Next thing you know me and my girlfriends came into the house. I jumped on the mic and started.

''The station had texts come in saying, 'who's this girl?!'

'That's how I started.'

Gemma struggled to get bookings as a female MC early on in her career Credit: ITV Wales

Getting her name on the line-up at drum and bass nights proved just as challenging for Gemma, who often heard a resounding no from promoters early on in her career.

A friend who DJ'd at a drum and bass night finally gave her the chance to perform.

''From that moment promoters started booking me for nights,'' Gemma said.

Now with an established name on the scene, Gemma turned her attention to the lack of women in the music industry.

It began when she saw a call for female rappers on Facebook by DJ and Ladies of Rage founder Ffion Wyn Morris.

''Ffion put on a night called Girls of Grime. There was about 10 of us and we all just realised that something needs to change in Cardiff music because there weren't many of us.''

Ladies of Rage are a collective of women who are under-represented in some genres of music Credit: ITV Wales

From this Ladies of Rage was born, a collective of woman who are under-represented in genres of music like drum and bass, hip hop and grime.

''We are a collective of women who inspire and empower other females in the music industry.

''We meet in a safe space so our ladies feel they can come and express themselves.

''A lot of women who come haven't even been artists. They've come to a jam and the next minute they're writing lyrics, even bars. We've got women in their 50's and 60's writing bars.''

Membership of Ladies of Rage has grown to over 200 women Credit: ITV Wales

Membership has grown to over 200 women and thanks to the group and mentoring from Gemma, more female drum and bass MCs have emerged.

''From being the only female MC, there's now another 10 of us.

''It's empowerment, it's inspiring.

''It's showing these women you can get out there, you can do it, you can rise, you can succeed in a male dominated industry.''