Tributes flood in for music entrepreneur, Jamal Edwards

Tributes have been pouring in for British entrepreneur, author, director, DJ and founder of the online urban music platform SB.TV Jamal Edwards following his dead on Sunday, February 20 after a short illness.

Prince Charles and rappers Dave and AJ Tracey are among the many voices paying tribute to entrepreneur and YouTube star.

Edwards, son of singer and presenter Brenda Edwards, died at age of 31, after a short illness.

His mother Brenda Edwards says she is “completely devastated”.

The Prince of Wales paid tribute to his work for The Prince’s Trust.

Dave simply wrote: “Thank you for everything. Words can’t explain” while Tracey said he was a “legend”.

Edwards was the founder of SBTV, an online urban music platform which helped launch the careers of artists like Dave, Ed Sheeran and Skepta. He first got into film-making after his parents gave him a video camera as a Christmas present when he was 15.

Born in Luton and later moving to west London, he was appointed an MBE for services to music in 2014. A pioneering figure in British rap and grime music, Edwards 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.

His company confirmed his death to the BBC on Sunday, saying he died that morning. His mother said he “passed away after a sudden illness”.

The Prince’s Trust described him in a tweet as “an incredible innovator and entrepreneur.”

Actor Idris Elba tweeted that Edwards would “be missed”, while businessman Sir Richard Branson, who wrote the forward for Edwards’ 2013 book, Self Belief: The Vision, tweeted that the star was “a truly extraordinary young man who made a huge difference to so many people’s lives”.

I May Destroy You star Michaela Coel said: “May his passion, joy and relentless desire to platform British artists be an inspiration.”

Former prime minister David Cameron, who is chair of the National Citizen Service’s Board of Patrons, paid tribute to Edwards for “supporting and inspiring young people to be the best they could be, leading from the front and showing what’s possible with hard work and determination”.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted that British music and entertainment “has lost one of its brightest stars”, while Chelsea Football Club added that Edwards – a Chelsea fan – was “an inspiration to many, we’re honoured that he was part of our Chelsea family”.

In 2019, he directed the Chelsea FC remix video of grime artist Capo Lee’s Style and Swag, and the video featured several of the team’s players.

Source: BBC