Jamal Edwards a British entrepreneur and YouTube star with Vincentian roots has died at the age of 31.
Edwards was born in Luton, England and spent his early years there before moving to Acton, West London where he lived with his mother Brenda, stepfather Patrick and younger sister, Tanisha. Edwards’ family originate from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
He was the founder of SBTV, an online urban music platform which helped launch the careers of artists like Dave, Ed Sheeran and Skepta.
Chart-topper AJ Tracey was one of the first to pay tribute online, tweeting “RIP Jamal Edwards, west London legend status”.
Edwards, born in Luton, was appointed an MBE for services to music in 2014.
He also became an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, a youth charity run by the Prince of Wales which helps young people set up their own companies.
He attended the Brit Awards earlier this month and was understood to have performed as a DJ at a gig in north London on Saturday night. No details have been released about his death, other than it happened on Sunday morning.
The whole Voice team is saddened and shocked to hear that #JamalEdwards has passed away. Gone waaay to soon. He made an amazing contribution to promoting black music, to entrepreneurship, and so much more. An incredible talent who will be much missed. RIP pic.twitter.com/iicjckScR4
— The Voice Newspaper (@TheVoiceNews) February 20, 2022
Tributes to Edwards, a pioneering figure in British rap and grime music, have been paid by many performers in the two genres.2
In a tweet, the organisers of Mobo Awards said they were “deeply saddened” to learn of Edwards’ death.
It added: “As the founder of @SBTVonline, his groundbreaking work & legacy in British music and culture will live on. Our hearts and thoughts are with his friends and family.”
Birmingham-based rapper Jaykae is an example of one of the acts that SBTV has helped to achieve success. Although he only broke through to mainstream chart success as the featured rapper on Top 20 hit Flowers two years ago, his videos have been featured on SBTV for more than a decade.
Describing Edwards as a “legend”, Jaykae tweeted: “I think I can speak for us all as artists and as supporters of UK grime/rap scene when I say I owe this man so much! Helped me sometimes without even speaking of it.”
Rapper Dave and the Voice newspaper, a weekly newspaper that caters for the interests of British-born black people, were among others to pay tribute.
Thank you for everything🙏🏿❤️ words can’t explain pic.twitter.com/24zqPJoW5X
— SANTAN (@Santandave1) February 20, 2022
