Jamal Edwards facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jamal Edwards
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Edwards in 2019
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| Born | 24 August 1990 Luton, Bedfordshire, England
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| Died | 20 February 2022 (aged 31) Acton, London, England
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| Other names | SmokeyBarz; Jamal Artman |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2006–2022 |
| Known for | Founder of SB.TV |
| Parent(s) | Brenda Edwards (mother) |
Jamal Edwards MBE (born August 24, 1990 – died February 20, 2022) was a British music entrepreneur and DJ. He was famous for starting SB.TV, an online platform for urban music.
Jamal was also an ambassador for The Prince's Trust. This charity helps young people start their own businesses. In 2021, he created Jamal Edwards Delve. This project worked to fix up and reopen youth centers.
Contents
Early Life and Dreams
Jamal Edwards was born in Luton, England. He later moved to Acton, West London, with his mother, stepfather, and sister. His family came from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
When he was a child, his mother, Brenda Edwards, wanted him to be an actor. She was even on The X Factor in 2005. But Jamal really wanted to work in the music world.
He went to Acton High School. He liked subjects like ICT and music. After school, he studied Media Moving Image at Ealing Green College. During these years, he started rapping and filming videos with his friends. He put these videos on YouTube. This was the start of his business, SBTV. To earn money, Jamal worked at the clothing store Topman for four years while building SBTV.
Building a Career
Starting SBTV
Jamal Edwards created SBTV in 2006. It was an online platform to help new music artists get noticed. SBTV helped launch the careers of many famous artists. These include Ed Sheeran, Jessie J, and Stormzy. By 2019, the SBTV YouTube channel had over one million subscribers.
When Jamal was 15, he got a video camera. He filmed his friends rapping and performing. He uploaded these videos to his YouTube channel. Later, he made a new channel called SBTV. The name came from "SmokeyBarz," a rapper name he used for a short time.
After leaving school, he kept working at Topman. At the same time, he made more and more videos. His videos became very popular, getting hundreds of thousands of views. Soon, he was able to leave Topman to focus only on SBTV. At first, the channel showed grime dance music. But then, he started adding other types of music.
Jamal filmed many artists before they became big stars. He filmed Jessie J's first acoustic video. He also filmed artists like Stormzy, Ed Sheeran, Dave, Emeli Sandé, and Rita Ora.
In 2011, SBTV was shown in a Google Chrome advertisement. This ad made the SBTV website crash because so many people visited it. It became the second most popular UK YouTube video that year. This also caught the eye of rapper Dr. Dre. He invited Jamal to film him on a tour in Asia.
Later, SBTV worked with Press Association, a news service. This helped SBTV reach an even bigger audience. Jamal also arranged the first online UK interviews with huge stars like Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Wiz Khalifa.
Fashion and Style
Besides music, Jamal also worked in fashion. He released a collection of hats with American Freshman. These hats were sold at Topman, where he used to work. Jamal designed these special snapbacks and bucket hats himself.
In 2019, Jamal hosted a discussion about mental health for the GQ Heroes series. He talked with model Adwoa Aboah. He also became a face for Kurt Geiger and Primark fashion campaigns that year.
Writing a Book
In 2013, Jamal wrote an ebook called Self Belief: The Vision: How To Be a Success on Your Own Terms. His book became a number-one bestseller on iBooks. It was so popular that Virgin Books bought the rights to print it as a physical book.
Music Projects
In 2019, Jamal directed a remix video for grime artist Capo Lee's song "Style and Swag." The video featured players from Chelsea F.C..
In November 2021, Jamal launched the 8BARS app. This app was a new way to help rising music stars. It received money from famous rapper Nines and early investors in Spotify. The app also started with a special partnership with SoundCloud.
In 2021, Jamal started using the name Jamal Artman to become a DJ. This name was a tribute to his birth name. As Jamal Artman, he started a house and dance music event called "Cultivation."
Jamal Edwards Delve (JED)
In 2019, Jamal founded Jamal Edwards Delve (JED). This project focused on local youth centers. It received money from Google and the Wellcome Trust. By October 2019, Jamal had fixed up and reopened four youth centers in Acton. By December 2020, over 150 young people had used these centers.
Directing Videos
In 2021, Jamal signed with RadicalMedia as a director. He then made commercials for companies like Subway and Depop. Jamal also worked with singer-songwriter Jake Bugg in 2021. Jamal directed a new series that showed a different side of Jake Bugg's story. It included his early life and what inspired his music.
In December 2021, Jamal directed the remix video for Ed Sheeran's song "Bad Habits." This remix featured Tion Wayne and Central Cee. Soon after, Jamal directed Fireboy's "Peru" Remix, also with Ed Sheeran.
Other Achievements
In 2017, the National Portrait Gallery, London bought a picture of Jamal. This picture, taken by photographer Simon Frederick, became part of their permanent collection.
In 2018, Jamal became the first ambassador for Mercedes-Benz X-Class. Through this, he started his own YouTube series called JE:SELF-BELIEF and JE:WHAT'S YOUR DRIVE. Jamal wanted to inspire other creative people and entrepreneurs. He showed the challenges and dreams of someone building a business in the digital age. His videos gave a look into his busy life. They featured artists, broadcasters, and social media stars as he traveled around the UK.
In 2020, Jamal announced a partnership with the Department for Education. This was a three-part campaign to encourage young creative people to consider apprenticeships. Grime artist P Money was also part of this.
In 2021, Jamal joined his mother, Brenda Edwards, on the TV show Loose Women. He talked about how he built a successful business and how his mom inspired him. Jamal was also named an ambassador for Google Pixel.
Helping Others
In 2014, Jamal helped launch the Queen's Young Leaders Programme. A picture of Jamal, Prince William, and Prince Harry was taken with a Twitter mirror for this event.
Jamal also worked to raise awareness about mental health. In March 2017, he made a documentary with The Guardian. In it, he talked to his childhood friends who struggled with mental health. Later that year, he continued to explore mental health in the music industry.
Jamal was open about his own struggles. He told Music Week: "Anxiety comes over me at the most random times. I wanted to create awareness. As much as music is my entry point, I feel a responsibility to talk about these other issues."
Besides his documentaries, Jamal worked with the mental health charity CALM. He also wrote a column about mental health for the online site The Book of Man.
Passing Away
Jamal Edwards passed away at his mother's home in Acton, London, on February 20, 2022. He was 31 years old. Friends said he died from a heart attack. The day before, he had been DJing at a show in north London.
Many famous people and figures shared their sadness after his death was announced. Lady Leshurr, who also worked with Jamal on SB.TV, said the news was "heartbreaking." She added that Jamal "gave me opportunity after opportunity to showcase my talent." Charles, Prince of Wales, who founded The Prince's Trust, wrote that Jamal's work was "an inspiration to so many."
Awards and Recognitions
- Jamal Edwards received an MBE in the 2015 New Year Honours from Elizabeth II. This was for his work in music through his business, SBTV.
- He was listed in the ES Power 1000 in 2013, as one of London's most influential people.
- In 2014, The Guardian named Jamal number 2 in their "The top 30 young people in digital media."
- On September 12, 2014, TIME magazine called Jamal one of their "Next Generation Leaders."
- In 2015, Jamal's business, SBTV, won the Best New StartUp award from Virgin Media and Virgin StartUp.
- Also in 2015, Jamal was named in Debrett's list of the 500 most influential people in Britain. He was in the New Media section with YouTubers Zoella and Alfie Deyes.
- In May 2016, the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) added Jamal to its Hall of Fame. This was for his important contributions to the online music industry with SB.TV.
- In 2016, GQ magazine included Jamal in their 100 Most Connected Men list.
- Jamal was chosen as one of the Maserati 100 in 2016. This list, with The Sunday Times, recognized 100 successful business innovators.
- In 2013, Jamal became an ambassador for The Prince's Trust. This charity, run by Prince Charles, helps young people start their own businesses.
- Jamal received an honorary MBA from Luton & Bedfordshire University.
- In September 2021, Jamal became an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Sussex.
- In November 2021, the University of West London gave Jamal an honorary Doctor of Letters degree for his success.
