Influential Innovative Music Impresario and Producer Jamal Edwards Has Died at 31
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Jamal Edwards, the British entrepreneur, who founded the SBTV YouTube channel and helped launch the careers of Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora and Jessie J, among others, died at the age of 31, his company told the BBC. Fans and music professionals are paying tributes to Edwards following the news of his passing.
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The New York Post: The West London-born philanthropist and entrepreneur’s “sudden” passing from an undisclosed illness was confirmed by his mother, Brenda Edwards, host of the popular UK daytime show “Loose Women.”
Jamal, a YouTube sensation with more than 1 million followers and a billion-plus platform views, was considered a pioneer of the “grime” music genre in the UK and beyond.
“It is with the deepest heartache that I confirm that my beautiful son Jamal Edwards passed away yesterday morning after a sudden illness,” his mourning mom said in a Twitter statement. “Myself, his sister Tanisha and the rest of his family and friends are completely devastated. He was the center of our world.”
After the devastating death of Jamal, our thoughts are with Brenda today. She’s sent us this message: pic.twitter.com/EZWH3b5tcX
— Loose Women (@loosewomen) February 21, 2022
Jamal first earned recognition in 2006 as the founder of the only media platform SmokeyBarz TV (SBTV), which showcased emerging artists and helped launch the careers of Ed Sheeran, Jessie J, Rita Ora and Skepta.
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Edwards’ final Instagram post on Friday was 31st birthday tribute to his “brother” Sheeran. He caption a throwback snap of the pair flipping the bird in Marbella, Spain, as such: “Happy Birthday to the OG, Ed. Blessed to have you in my life brother. You know you’ve been mates a long time when you lose count on the years! Keep smashing it & inspiring us all G!”
The SBTV YouTube channel now has 1.2 million subscribers and nearly 1 billion video views.
“Everyone in my area was an MC and I thought ‘Alright if everyone is doing MCing what else can I do that’s around the music?’”Jamal recalled to BBC Radia 1Xtra in 2017. “I remember I was just sitting there and was thinking, ‘Why can’t I find these online?’ and if they were online it was just bad-quality versions, so I thought ‘Alright, cool, I’m going to try and film people in my area and upload it to YouTube’ — and from there it just started building and growing.”
As news of his death spread online, stars such as singer-actress Ora paid moving homage to the young but influential talent.
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