SBTV20 November 11th
- Valentina Reynolds
- 13 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Jamal Edwards was 15 when he got a camcorder for Christmas. He lived in Acton. He started filming the MCs around him, the boys spitting bars over grime. He didn't do it because he thought they'd be famous. He did it because he knew they were cold right then, in that moment, and the world needed to see them.
He put it on YouTube. Called it SBTV. The rest really is history.
Wiley was there. Dizzee Rascal. Skepta. Chipmunk. Ed Sheeran showed up before he was Ed Sheeran. Stormzy before he was massive. Dave. Jessie J. Krept and Konan. AJ Tracey. Lady Leshurr. Bugzy Malone. The entire blueprint of modern British music passed through his lens.
He didn't have connections. He didn't have a deal with a label. He had belief in people before they believed in themselves, he was a visionary.
When SBTV exploded, Jamal kept building. Four youth centres. 8BARS, a platform for rising talent to showcase what they could do. An MBE for reshaping Black British music. He died at 31. His family turned what he built into the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust, and it keeps going.
On November 11th, the O2 is going to be full of the artists who made it because of him. Wiley. Roll Deep. Chip. Lady Leshurr. Big Narstie. Tinchy Stryder. Jammer. Dappy. Scorcher. Kenny Allstar. Kyla. Griminal. Professor Green. WSTRN. Yungen. The original grime heads. All of them on one stage under the SBTV banner for the first time at a venue this size.
This is the moment they're recognising what Jamal did. Not just launched careers. He changed the entire industry. Showed that belief could be a business model. Proved that kids from London estates didn't need permission.
Shiraz Baziko from Ernest Promotions, who's helping put this together, said it best:
"We are all fans here, and will all be eager spectators come November 11th." The whole point of SBTV 20 is to create moments worthy of what Jamal built. There are surprises coming. More artists to announce. But the foundation is already there-the artists, the legacy, the belief he put into them."
November 11th. The O2. Register for tickets https://www.sbtv20.co.uk/