THE world of hip hop and rap music is usually associated with male African Americans, not young women who grew up in Charleville in western Queensland, but Chelsea Bredhauer is out to break the mould in many ways.
Not only did she do some of her schooling through distance education, she was also a keen young horsewoman well known on the show scene.
She and her brother Jack chose to go to school at Scots PGC in Warwick so they could ride horses before and after classes, and she remembers being determined to be the best.
This included flying to Perth for the 2007 Australian Showman of the Year competition, which gave her only one hour to get to know the horse supplied for the event before going out into the ring to strut her dressage, jumping and show workout skills.
"I used to get up at 3am at the Ekka to work my horse - it was my world at the time," she said.
"I'm not that horse crazy any more."
After leaving school she began studying criminology at Bond University on the Gold Coast and it was here that she discovered the enjoyment of writing for the rap scene, with its distinctive chanted rhyming lyrics.
Rap battles, a friendly "dissing" of an opponent and entertaining a crowd, a la Muhammad Ali, were Chelsea's way of getting known in the scene, and she has been a guest judge at rap battles in Sydney and Adelaide as well as travelling overseas to the US, Canada and the UK to connect with well-known artists.
One of her breakthroughs came when she was visiting her brother Jack on the rodeo circuit in Canada.
Hip hop supergroup ATLien Workshop weren't far away in Atlanta, so she flew down to write some verse with them, which was done in 20 minutes and then recorded.
"I think that's why people started talking, all because of that verse," she said.
She's built on the national and international attention by being announced as the recipient of the 2013 Hilltop Hoods initiative, worth $10,000.
The first female to win this prestige award for emerging rap artists, Chelsea (or Chelsea Jane as she's known in the hip hop world) has been given respect for her distinct tone and flow as well as her amazing wordsmith abilities.
The award will help her make her first full-length solo CD and market it, and gives her legal advice as well.
"Writing's very therapeutic, it's my way of relaxing," she said.
"I've been told I don't sound how I look.
"People see a girl with pink hair and they think I'm innocent, but when I hear a beat, the demon comes out in me."
While she says she's not commercial at this stage, she wants to last longer in the business than a couple of years.
Chelsea is keeping her options open, working by day in a Gold Coast retail outlet, where she has become one of their top five Australian sales reps.
Finishing her criminology degree may also be on the cards.
In the meantime she is busy writing new singles and developing the album planned for release in early 2014, in between overseas engagements.
Just this week she returned from the biggest rap battle competition in the world, 'World Domination 4', hosted by King of the Dot in Toronto, where she was asked to judge.
She said her father, Charleville identity Kevin "Blue" Bredhauer, was not "hip hop affiliated" but he fully supported everything she did.
"He tells me I should find a boyfriend but do you know how hard it is to find someone who understands what I do," she laughed.
The whole transformation has been very fast for family and friends alike, but no doubt the determination Chelsea brought to the riding arena will stand her in good stead in the music world.