Dreamer's Disease

Jamal Edwards, the founder of the media platform SBTV, which helped to launch grime and a new wave of artists to a global audience, died on Sunday morning at the age of 31. Jamal is someone who I knew through my time spent in the music industry and saw as a real inspirational character. So it hit me really hard to hear that he had passed away at such a tender age. Edwards was also a director, novelist, DJ, entrepreneur, and designer, and he received an MBE for his work in music in 2014, when he was only 24 years old. Some of the world's most successful performers – including Ed Sheeran, Dave, and Jessie J, Skepta to name a few - began their careers on SBTV, Edwards' platform, which started as a YouTube channel, before being signed to major labels. Edwards began SBTV "on a £20 phone" while still in high school and turned it into a renowned online youth broadcaster, according to Edwards. His YouTube channel, which he started in 2006, now has 1.2 million subscribers and nearly 1 billion views. Stormzy, Rita