Lil Wayne shocked the crowd at the mtvU Woodie Awards on Thursday night (March 13) with a surprise performance of “A Milli,” paving the way for a legendary awards show honoring and showcasing up-and-coming bands and artists.
Drake, The 1975, Chance the Rapper, Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, A$AP Rocky and Skrillex winners of the 2014 mtvU Woodie Awards, which took place at SXSW Music Festival.
MTV will premiere the “2014 mtvU Woodie Awards Special” on Sunday, March 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, celebrating award winners and showcasing some of the best performances from the Woodies.
He released his critically acclaimed third studio album and appeared on just about every major hip-hop track of last year, and mtvU decided to honor Drake by giving him the biggest award of the night, Woodie of the Year, which celebrates “the artist that completely owned the past 12 months.”
Beyonce, meanwhile, won the inaugural Did It My Way Woodie for her the unprecedented release of her self-titled album without any promotion or warning. The Breaking Woodie award, which honors emerging artists, went to Woodie Awards performer The 1975, while fellow U.K. act Ed Sheeran took home the Performing Woodie award, which spotlights artists who “reimagined their stages to create live experiences that resonated beyond venue walls.”
Best Video Woodie went to Chance the Rapper for “Everybody’s Something,” while A$AP Rocky and Skrillex captured the Best Collaboration Woodie award for their work together on “Wild For the Night.”
mtvU also honored 90.3 FM WESS Radio from East Stroudsburg University with the “College Radio Woodie,” presented annually to pioneering stations dedicated to bringing students the best emerging music.
“I played the Woodies back in 2012 and saw everyone win an award and was quite jealous, so it’s actually nice to win one,” said Ed Sheeran. “Thanks to the fans for voting and thank to you to mtvU for creating the award and for giving it to me.”
After Lil Wayne kicked off the show with a surprise performance, The 1975, Danny Brown, Steve Aoki, Iggy Azalea and Childish Gambino also took the stage for legendary performances.
Voting will remain open through Sunday, March 16 for a new category, the “Cover Woodie” award presented by Taco Bell, which praises artists who have taken a smash hit and turned it on its head to make it their own. Fans can vote for their favorite nominee on Twitter, Instagram and Vine by using custom hashtags with “#vote” in front of the name of the artist they support. The nominees are Bastille’s take of “We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus (#votebastille); Arctic Monkeys covering Drake’s “Hold On We’re Going Home” (#votearcticmonkeys); Vampire Weekend’s rendition of “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke (#votevampireweekend); Sam Smith’s version of Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” (#votesamsmith); Low covering Rihanna’s “Stay” (#votelow); and The 1975’s version of “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction (#votethe1975).
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