Jamal Edwards, a leading figure on the British rap scene and a member of the British Empire, has passed away. He was 31 years old.
His mother, Brenda Edwards, who hosts the UK’s popular daytime program Loose Woman, has confirmed the death of the West London-born philanthropist and entrepreneur from an undisclosed illness.
Jamal, a YouTube sensation with over a million followers and garnered over a billion views for the platform, is considered a pioneer in the “silly” music genre in the UK and abroad.
“It is with the deepest heartache that I confirm that my beautiful son, Jamal Edwards, passed away yesterday morning after a sudden illness,” Mama said mourning In a Twitter statement. “My sister Tanisha and the rest of his family and friends are totally devastated. He was the center of our world.”
Brenda, 52, continued in her emotional post, “As we come to terms with his passing, we ask for privacy to mourn this unimaginable loss. I want to thank everyone for the messages of love and support. Jamal has been an inspiration to me and so many. Our love for him lives on and his legacy lives on. Jamal Edwards MBA and Ph.D.”
Jamal first gained recognition in 2006 as founder of the only media platform SmokeyBarz TV (SBTV), which has showcased emerging artists and helped launch the careers of Ed Sheeran, Jessie J, Rita Ora and Skepta.
Edwards Last post on Instagram Friday marks his 31st birthday to his “brother” Sheeran. He captioned a throwback shot of the pair flipping the bird in Marbella, Spain, like this: “Happy birthday to OG, Ed. Blessed for having you in my life brother. You know you’ve been buddies for so long when you lose count of the years! Keep crushing and inspiring us! All G!”
SBTV YouTube channel now has 1.2 million subscribers and nearly 1 billion video views.
“Everyone in my area was a MC presenter, and I thought ‘OK, if everyone is presenting MC’, what else can I do about the music?” Jamal recalls. ” BBC Radio 1Xtra in 2017. “I remember sitting there and thinking, ‘Why can’t I find her online?'” And if they were online, it was just poor quality copies, so I thought ‘Okay, cool, I’ll try to shoot people in my area and upload them to YouTube’ – and from there I just started building and growing.”
With his viral success ballooning, Edwards launched his charitable campaign as an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, a youth charity run by the Prince of Wales that supports young people in launching their own businesses, CNN reported.
In 2015, Prince William awarded a 24-year-old beauty with an MBE to charity work during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
As news of his death spread on the internet, stars such as singer and actress Ora paid tribute to the influential young talent.
Ora, 31, commented on her homage on Instagram: “It was my first ever interview with you.” “Jamal, our endless talk about music and the faith I had and many of us even before we believed in ourselves.” I feel very disappointed. No words can describe how grateful I am to have you. Thank you for everything you showed me. My heart goes out to brendaedwardsglobal and the whole family. to cut.”
