When most of us think of female drummers, the legendary Latina-American singer, drummer and percussionist Shelia E. comes to mind. Not only has the Grammy-nominated icon been embraced for her fierce drumming skills in the U.S. and abroad, but she debunks the stereotype that women don't have the musical chops and physical capability to make it as a professional drummer or percussionist.

Shelia E., who has worked with Prince and Gloria Estefan, hails from musical roots — her godfather was the legendary Tito Puente — so it seemed only natural that she would follow suit with ease, blessed with sheer talent.

ut in other parts of the world, becoming a female drummer required overcoming "macho attitudes and religious traditions."

Breaking into the Cuban world of percussion was especially difficult for Wendy Garcia of the Obiní Batá orchestra of women percussionists, who plays the drums in Old Havana, Cuba. She told The Associated Press that "it wasn't too long ago that Cuba's rich percussion scene was essentially a 'boys' club.'"

"Perceived as too weak for the physical demands of drumming, and unsuitable for an instrument considered a means of communicating with the gods, women were shut out of rehearsal spaces and barred from using 'bata' drums belonging to the National Folkloric Ensemble. Instructors were warned that if they taught women, it could cost them a place in a traveling tour or a major performance."

However, with women increasingly taking on more prominent roles in politics academics and within certain sectors of Cuban society, the barriers for female drummers began to slowly but surely crumble.

Reportedly, experts are seeing a boom in female percussionists with these aspiring musicians using these women who paved the way for them during the 1990s.

"I threw myself into the unknown," Eva Despaigne, the 60-year-old director of Obini Bata, Cuba's first all-female bata orchestra, which takes its name from the Yoruban word for woman told the AP. "I have suffered many headaches."

"Under Afro-Cuban beliefs, the two-sided bata (pronounced ba-TAH') are sacred, used for connecting with Santeria spirits. Tradition dictates the drums be made only from the hides of male goats. Players must undergo a lengthy consecration ritual. And, above all, the sacred bata are to be played only by men."

Despaigne, an Afro-Cuban folkloric dancer saw the drum as a "means to experience her art at a deeper level."

"It is the fundamental instrument of the genre. I figured by playing it, I could broaden my development as an artist and have greater expressiveness," she added.

While more Latinas are becoming more interested in percussion, there hasn't been anyone - as of yet, that has gained the recognition and fame comparable to the U.S.' Shelia E. She hopes that will change someday.

In an earlier interview with Latina Magazine, Shelia E. was asked why there weren't any well-known Latina female drummers in the industry and she replied:

"That's a good question. Once in a great while, when I have a couple of hours — which is hardly ever anymore — I go online trying to find young kids to see who's playing and who's up and coming. That's how people get discovered...By going on YouTube, I found so many great young kids that can really play — but I also found a lot of young women percussionists who are Latin and I was like, 'man, they can really play!'"

"They are awesome, but I don't know what they're doing in their lives to pursue their career or not — I don't know if it has to do with where they live, or the kind of music they're getting into, or if they want this to be their career — I haven't reached out to any of them," she added. "But I saw at least five Latina women who played very, very well and I was very happy to see that!"