Jamal Edwards is still shaping SBTV 20 years on. Tanisha Edwards said carrying on her brother's legacy means everything as the platform marks its anniversary by bringing back freestyle formats and looking for a new generation of rappers.
Those freestyles built SBTV in 2006, when Edwards launched it with homemade videos in the early days of YouTube and helped open doors for Dave, Ed Sheeran, Jessie J and Skepta. Tanisha Edwards, now CEO of SBTV, said: "I know how it feels as an artist and trying to put yourself out there and break through those doors," and added, "So I think it's very key to still have a platform that does want to help up-and-coming talent, that does want to go to places on the map that you wouldn't mainly really go to."
Tanisha Edwards on SBTV
"means everything." That was Tanisha Edwards' answer when she spoke about honouring her brother's name, and she put the point more plainly in the same conversation: "Obviously he's not physically here with us," and "But to be able to carry on his name and carry on the work he did and be able to push his message of self-belief." The anniversary is not just a look back; it is an attempt to keep a discovery pipeline alive at a time when algorithms dominate far more of the music conversation than they did when SBTV started.
London's O2 arena next week
A one-off show will be held in London's O2 arena next week to mark the 20-year milestone, with money going to the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust. Tinie Tempah, Lady Leshurr and Tinchy Stryder are set to perform, while Dappy, Headie One and Ms Banks are also set to take to the stage. Rapper Nolay called Edwards a "catalyst" in her career and a friend, which fits the larger picture here: SBTV is trying to turn its history into a working platform again, not a museum piece.
Edwards founded SBTV in 2006, was awarded an MBE for his services to music in 2014, and died aged 31 in 2022 of cardiac arrhythmia following drug use. Tanisha Edwards has taken over as CEO of SBTV since his death, and the anniversary now tests whether the brand's original promise can still translate into fresh talent, live attention and money for the trust in the same year.
