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| Richard Branson and Jamal Edwards |
Its now a little under three months since Christmas and what ever presents I got over the period are gathering dust or have been used and thrown aside. Like a young child, once the novelty of that new "toy" has worn off the gift usually gets taken out every once in a while to make sure that I am seen to be using the thing. No where in the back of my mind could I imagine that a gift bought over that time could be used to create an online broadcaster of music promos, video interviews and impromptu live performances. But this is what Jamal Edwards did with a video camera he received a video camera for Christmas in 2007.
Edwards was 15 when he received a camera from his mother and in the beginning he used it to film foxes on his estate, which once uploaded to Youtube was a modest success getting nearly 1000 views. With an interest in the grime music scene in the UK and spotting the lack of an actual channel dedicated to showcasing some of the most interesting acts coming out of the UK at that time, Jamal set about recording local grime, urban artists and freestyle rapping with his handy cam, which he would then upload to his YouTube account. This want and desire to showcase up and coming acts lead to the creation of "SB.TV", taking its name from Jamal's alter ego's "Smokey Barz" initials, which formed part of his Twisted Visions production company. Unlike polished mainstream music videos, Jamal's approach was to film London rappers freestyling on the street, backstage at gigs or in the back seats of cars. These performances, delivered straight to camera without studio gloss and posted online within days, were seen to be raw and thrilling and so they immediately began to strike a chord with music fans in the UK who were growing tired of the mainstream output and reality talent shows monopolising the media's attention.
From 2007-2010 Edwards videoed up and coming acts who have today gained mainstream attention. Acts such as Black The Ripper, Little Dee, Griminal, Wretch 32, Skepta, Kano, Dizzy Rascal, Wiley, Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder have all come to the public's attention thanks to their association with "SB.TV". During this three year period the reach and popularity of the Youtube channel enabled Edwards to diversify their production remit and offer lifestyle interviews and event coverage through "SB.TV". This expansion in offerings and increasing professional nature of the videos lead to the creation of a dedicated production team which consists of ten staff and finding his own commercial property to operate out of.
With a larger production crew, came the opportunity for the company to vary its music tastes by incorporating other genres of music, aiming to be a ‘diverse youth lifestyle broadcaster’. In recent times the channel has showcased acts such as Jessie J, Nicki Minaj, Pixie Lott, Ellie Goulding and Bruno Mars. Justin Bieber and acoustic artist Ed Sheeran have been profiled on the site which showcases Edwards' dedication to ensuring that his company offers something other than grime artists.
2011 was the year that Edwards made his mark. He established www.sbtv.co.uk, a dedicated site for his "SB.TV" video output, and he also become the face of Google Chrome UK with the resulting video, seen above, leading to www.sbtv.co.uk crashing as over a million people Googled his name after watch the ad but the site racked up 50,000 subscribers and a total of 39 million video views. Edwards expanded the SB.TV brand further by signing a record deal with Sony, their own online clothing store and an online public discussion forum called DB8.
Taking that once off Christmas present and using it become one of the most influential 20 year olds in the UK took a lot of perseverance and dedication. What started out as a one man guerilla operation, videoing around London has now enabled Jamal to rub shoulders with Richard Branson, Simon Cowell, David Cameron and P Diddy. A founding corner stone of "SB.TV" was to give young people a platform to voice their opinions, to allow them and Edwards a place to show what was really happening in their lives. From humble beginnings on his council estate to aspirations of growing his channels subscribers to a million could be seen as an impossible dream for someone who is seen to be part of "Generation vexed" but as Jamal has stated on numerous occasions the word impossible is not in his dictionary.
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