Ed Sheeran pays homage to Jamal Edwards with emotional SBTV freestyle
A new Ed Sheeran freestyle has appeared on SBTV honouring his late friend Jamal Edwards, who founded the platform back in 2006.
Uploaded January 19, the freestyle was filmed inside an empty, flood-lit Stamford Bridge with the name Jamal spelled out in the stands, the home stadium of Chelsea Football Club whom Edwards was a life-long supporter of.
The superstar singer-songwriter delivers and emotional set of bars that address his grief following Edwards' death in February 2021, expressing his sadness that Jamal never got to meet his daughter Jupiter and adding that he would've been made the godfather.
The SBTV founder was an early champion of Sheeran and gave the musician a platform that helped springboard him to global success over the following decade. Back in 2010, the singer performed ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ on SBTV, a live performance that caught the attention of Sheeran's current manager Stuart Camp and led to him signing for his label Atlantic.
A statement from SBTV in the description of the freestyle video reads: "With the return of the flagship series F64 Ed Sheeran kicks us off with a tribute to Jamal. At SBTV, we will continue to push and support British artists, bringing artists together in new ways. Jamal's legacy will live on through his incredible achievements, SBTV and the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust."
Tanisha Artman, SBTV CEO comments: "We plan to keep everything in line with what Jamal started and was working on. SBTV will stay true to its roots and that will never change as we grow. Thank you to everyone that has supported us we are forever grateful. "
Back in November, a series of special performances took place in honour of Jamal, including contributions from Little Simz, Jorja Smith, Mahalia and Max Cyrus.
Watch the video of the freestyle above.
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