MtvU’s Woodie Awards, airing Wednesday, is the awards show known for honoring indie acts and artists who constantly push the envelope creatively. These names might not sound familiar to you but they are quickly amassing a huge fan base in their respective scenes. Others on this list have been in the game for a while and some of their biggest fans might even include your favorite singer or rapper, meaning they are influencing the music you listen to.

So, when The Source hit these artists up on the red carpet, we had to know, “What are you doing to push Hip-Hop (and music in general) forward?”

Hip-Hop’s resident suburban representative Asher Roth said he was, “bringin’ music back, bringin’ concepts back, you’re gonna have to listen [to the album]. It’s good relatable music.”

Kanye West’s own tour DJ, DJ A-trak, said he was, “finding a good balance between changing the sound a little bit and keeping the roots of it.”

Electro purists Chromeo said they would move music forward by “moving it backward.”

Chicago’s Kid Sister said she was, “giving it a much needed face lift, because it’s been uh dragging a little bit, gravity has been pulling it down.”

Rapper/Activist Emmanuelle Jal said he was, “representing old school, realisticness, consciousness, and an appeal for change.”

Santogold, the eclectic pop artist who recently collaborated with Pharrell for Converse, dropped a lot of knowledge in her statement. She said, “you can’t put my music in one category… and that is very important for the future of music and especially Black music. People have put Black music in this little box like it’s Hip-Hop or R&B. Black people make all different kinds of music, and have, throughout the history of music. Finally, it’s coming to a time when we’re getting different artists who look all different ways doing whatever they want. That’s what I tried to do on my record. It mixes up all my influences, which ranges from Dub to punk rock to electronic to new wave, and I’m Black. So, I think that’s very important for the future of music.”

Interesting words from interesting artists. We’ll just have to see how far they push music forward in the coming years. Count on The Source to be there for it all when it goes down. By: Rek