FILE - Jamal Edwards poses on the red carpet on arrival for the BRIT Awards 2019 in London on Feb. 20, 2019. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP) LONDON - Jamal Edwards, British music entrepreneur and founder of a YouTube channel that provided an early platform to several U.K.
rappers as well as pop stars like Ed Sheeran, has died. He was 31.Edwards’ death was confirmed on Monday by his mother, broadcaster Brenda Edwards, who said her son had died the day before after a "sudden illness.""Jamal was an inspiration to myself and so many," she said in a statement, adding that the family was "completely devastated.
He was the center of our world."As a teenager in 2006, Edwards founded the online music channel SBTV amid frustration that he couldn’t find the music he loved online.
He started filming rap performances by friends in his west London neighborhood and later widened the channel’s focus to include other musical styles and interviews, according to the New York Times.In 2010, Edwards posted a video of Sheeran over a year before the British singer-songwriter released his first single on a major label.