Fans and friends of music pioneer, Jamal Edwards, gathered at a vigil in west London to pay tribute to the 31-year-old, who died on Sunday, February 20,2022.
Edwards was the founder of SBTV, an online grime and rap platform that helped launch the careers of artists like Dave, Skepta, and Ed Sheeran.
American football player, Zachary Thomas, who was present at the event, in an interview with local media said: “Jamal was the hero of Acton. He was the guy who showed you could make it out without… getting involved in crime or anything”.
Edwards started filming local rappers after his parents gave him a video camera as a Christmas present when he was 15. That led him to start SBTV, which became a launchpad for some of the biggest names in British music.
One friend at the vigil, Dominic Magliore, told local media “It’s hard to accept it. I heard about it yesterday and I saw him on Friday. We were hugging, laughing, and having a good time and everything seemed OK”.
The mourners paid their respects on Acton High Street in front of a mural of Edwards, which was commissioned in 2019.
Popular LGBTQ advocate, Sam Borelli said: “Jamal was the guy that showed kids from low-income households that you are not limited to what your grades might tell you. He made the musicians that made me, with a camera he got for Christmas”.
Edwards’ company confirmed his death on Sunday, February 20, 2022, disclosing that he had died that morning. No cause of death has been given.
Jamal’s mother, Brenda Edwards, a singer and panelist on ITV show, ‘Loose Women’, indicated that he “passed away after a sudden illness”. She said she was “completely devastated”.
Tributes poured in
The Prince of Wales paid tribute to Jamal’s work for The Prince’s Trust.
Actor Idris Elba tweeted that he would “be missed”, while businessman Sir Richard Branson, who wrote the foreword 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”.
BBC 1Xtra DJ and presenter, Nadia Jae, told ‘Newsbeat’ that Edwards “helped so many people, put them in places that they never would have been, and did a lot of the pushing of doors to make sure that our industry is as fruitful as it is now”.
“He had a heart of gold, I don’t know anyone who has a bad word to say about Jamal. He broke so many barriers, I don’t know if we’re ever going to get another Jamal.”
Nadia
Jamal Edwards, apart from his work with the Prince’s Trust, also founded JE Delve, a grassroots charity providing youth clubs learning, and work opportunities for young people in west London, where he grew up after his family moved there from Luton. He worked with a string of other youth charities and regularly made visits to speak to teenagers, including Acton High School and West London College, where he studied, to answer questions on business success and self-motivation.
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