Stormzy; Jamal Edwards
(Picture: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images For Bauer Media; Nicholas.T.Ansell/PA Wire)Friends of Jamal Edwards, the music entrepreneur who founded SBTV, paid tribute to him at the Music Industry Trust Awards in Mayfair last night.
Stormzy sent in a video message recalling his first chance meeting with Edwards. “I got there and he was actually meant to film someone else, basically the people who were talent managing me were meant to bring another artist who Jamal really wanted to shoot, but they didn’t.”
“They brought me and Jamal was kind of like ‘who’s this kid’ and I was just there like ‘yo, I just want to be on SBTV.’ ‘Alright, cool, you’ve got one take to do it.’ And I did one take. Yeah, the rest was history.”
Stormzy added that SBTV, or SmokeyBarz TV, was an important part of his musical development. “He is a pioneer in the truest sense, he taught us, and encouraged us, and showed us that we can go further. In our hood, in our cultures, in our areas, in our ends if you was on SBTV you had really made it.”
Rapper AJ Tracey also spoke about Edwards’s “long lasting legacy, helping people, helping the black community, helping West London for sure. In West London we regard him as a legend and we will do forever.” Edwards was born in Luton but grew up in Acton. He died from cardiac arrythmia after recreational drug use in February.
Jamal’s mother Brenda paid tribute to the talent in the room and remembering giving ger sib his camera for Christmas. “He was filming so many people, not once did he charge them to film them for SBTV” she said. “Jamal’s here, he’s ultimately with us” she said, adding: “Just hold on to his self-belief motto that will give us strength to face every day’
Singer Little Simz performed, and spoke, saying: “I feel like Jamal is someone that was a go-getter, someone that had a vision, that knew ‘I’m going to get that and I’m going to reach to that height and I’m going to inspire people.’ And he did. Legend.’
