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Jamal Edwards' sister on celebrating SBTV's 20-year legacy and hopes of discovering new talent

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

SBTV is marking two decades of operations by returning to its roots of discovering emerging musical talent through resurrected freestyle sessions. Following the 2022 death of founder Jamal Edwards, his sister Tanisha has taken over as CEO to champion human-led curation in an algorithm-heavy industry. The anniversary celebrations culminate in a major benefit concert at London's O2 arena featuring legacy acts like Tinie Tempah and Lady Leshurr. All proceeds from the commemorative live show will go directly to support the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust.

Key points

  • SBTV is reviving its original freestyle video formats to unearth and cultivate a new gene…: SBTV is reviving its original freestyle video formats to unearth and cultivate a new generation of British rappers.
  • Tanisha Edwards is leading the company as CEO to protect human curation against an indust…: Tanisha Edwards is leading the company as CEO to protect human curation against an industry dominated by automated algorithms.
  • The 20th anniversary concert will generate funding for the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trus…: The 20th anniversary concert will generate funding for the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust to support future creative talent.

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Launched in the early days of YouTube with homemade videos featuring emerging artists, online music channel SBTV went on to shake up the music industry.

Pioneering DJ and entrepreneur Jamal Edwards founded the grime and rap music platform back in 2006 after he got a camcorder for Christmas and started filming his friends on the council estate where he grew up in west London.

It helped launch the careers of many acts including Dave, Ed Sheeran, Jessie J and Skepta.

By the age of 23, Jamal was a multimillionaire and channelling his success into helping others. He was awarded an MBE for his services to music in 2014.

He died aged 31 in 2022 of cardiac arrhythmia following drug use, prompting a flood of tributes from those who he helped support.

As the channel marks its 20th anniversary, it is set to bring back some of its freestyle formats in the hope of discovering a new generation of rappers.

His sister has been keeping his legacy going by taking over as CEO of SBTV.

Tanisha, who is also…

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