The world of music is changing so fast that it is difficult to undertake a steadied evaluation of its impact on human expression. The evaluation or assessment of a movement or even a single piece does require time and tranquility. However, the contemporary music scene is trundling along at a fast pace without the luxury of a pause.

Jamal Edwards, who died last week at the age of 31, in England created an impact that is still being savoured. The first question to answer is how could a person who lived for only three decades have done so much as to merit an assessment of his contribution. Many people spend their entire lives trying to make a significant impact with their work but fail to do so. Here is a man, whose life was sadly cut down in the flower of his youth, being lauded as someone made a huge impact.

Great advances in technology and the rapidity with which these are occurring give us just enough time to savour these before being overtaken by the next big thing. The few hours or days that we have are just the time when the impact is being assessed.

This is the first difference that needs to be noted and perhaps analysed. The introduction of video channels, YouTube, mobile phone apps and platforms means has created a whole new scenario. This has had a lasting effect on music production, the patronage of it and the accessibility. Many new forms have just popped up and many genres are being mixed and multi-mixed. The media has also opened up like nothing before the exchange between musics across the globe. The digital presence is a must and not the physical. This has unhinged the expression from its locale. The criteria for judging music and the response that it evokes now are a matter of critical importance. Edwards helped launch many artistes and the impact it had on music and culture was huge.

His rampant success put him under great stress. He was open about his own struggles, stating in an interview with Music Week: “Anxiety comes over me at the most random times. I wanted to create awareness. As much as music is my entry point, I feel a responsibility to talk about these other issues. I wanted to get people talking to each other and they have been. I’m happy.”

He was 15 when he started recording performances of his rapping friends and uploading them on his YouTube channel. These videos would eventually become his business and the beginning of SBTV, an online media platform to discover emerging artists launched in 2006. His rap name at the time was SmokeyBarz. It helped launch the careers of many artists including Ed Sheeran. Initially, the channel’s content was Grime Dance Music, but he later began exploring other musical genres.

Edwards filmed some artists before they became well known. They included Jessie J, Stormzy Dave, Emeli Sande, Rita Ora, Krept & Konan, Yungen, Mic Righteous, Nines, Tori Kelly, Bugzy, Malone, Mist, English Frank, Aaron Unknown and Cadet.

In 2016, SBTV linked with the youth-focused news service Press Association to expand into more of a mainstream multichannel video. Over the years, Edwards constructed collaborations with some of the world’s biggest stars, conducting the first online UK-based interviews with Drake, Nicki Minaj and Wiz Khalifa.

In 2019, Edwards directed the Chelsea FC remix video of grime artist Capo Lee’s Style and Swag. The video featured players including Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ngolo Kante, Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham and Michy Batshuavi. By 2019, the SBTV YouTube channel had more than one million subscribers.

In November 2021, Edwards launched the 8BARS app: a ground-breaking platform supporting up-and-coming music stars. The app received investments from the likes of British rapper Nines, as well as Spotify. It also launched with an exclusive pilot partnership with SoundCloud. The same year he created the pseudonym Jamal Artman to launch his DJ career, paying homage to his birth name. Under this pseudonym, Edwards launched the house and dance music event night, Cultivation.

Securing funding from Google and the Wellcome Trust in 2019, Edwards founded Jamal Edwards Delve (JED) a grassroots youth-centre project. As of October 2019, Edwards had refurbished and reopened four youth-centres in Acton. As of December 2020, more than 150 people have engaged across the four centres.

In 2021, Edwards joined RadicalMedia as a director. He later produced commercial content in partnership with the likes of Subway and Depop. Edwards also teamed up with singer-songwriter Jake Bugg in 2021 and directed a brand-new series to showcase the unseen side of Bugg’s story, including his early years in Nottingham and inspiration behind his music style and lyrics.

In December 2021, Edwards directed Ed Sheeran’s Bad Habits remix, featuring Tion Wayne and Central Cee. Shortly after, Edwards went on to direct Fireboy’s Peru remix with Ed Sheeran.

Edwards was an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, a youth charity which helps young people set up their own businesses. In 2014, Edwards had helped launch the Queen’s Young Leaders Programme with an image of Edwards, Prince William and Prince Harry captured by a Twitter mirror.

Edwards also worked to raise awareness surrounding mental health. In March 2017, he made a documentary with The Guardian about male suicide, in which he spoke to his childhood friends who suffer with mental health. Later that year, Edwards continued his work and explored mental health in the music industry. As well as his documentary work, Edwards collaborated with the mental health charity CALM, and wrote a column that discussed the issue for the online site The Book Of Man

In 2013, Edwards released an ebook, Self Belief: The Vision: How To Be a Success on Your Own Terms. It was the number-one bestselling ebook series according to iBooks. He was also chosen to be the ambassador for the youth charity, The Prince’s Trust, the charity run by Prince Charles to help young people to set up their own businesses, the same year. Edwards was awarded an MBE in the 2015, for services to music through his business. British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) inducted Edwards into its Hall of Fame. Edwards received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree for his success, from the University of West London in November 2021.

The author is a culture critic based in Lahore