Ed Sheeran new song: lyrics, how to watch singer’s tribute to Jamal Edwards in full - how did SBTV creator die?

Pop singer Ed Sheeran has dedicated a new song to his close friend Jamal Edwards who died in February last year.

Sheeran’s song F64 was made for SBTV - an online hip hop broadcaster founded by Edwards in 2006. The song is a 64 bar freestyle which was filmed at Stamford Bridge - the home of Chelsea FC and the club that Edwards supported throughout his life.

Loose Women’s Brenda Edwards, mother of Jamal, admitted that the song brought her to tears when she listened to it. She told Ben Shepard and Kate Garraway: “Ed Sheeran sent me the final edit and I’ve been in and out of crying ever since.They’re positive tears. It’s just because it means so much.”

Jamal Edwards helped kickstart Sheeran’s rise to fame in 2010 and was one of the singer’s closest friends.

But who was Jamal Edwards and what did Ed Sheeran say at his memorial service last year?

What did Ed Sheeran say about Jamal Edwards?

Sheeran praised Edwards last year for helping him in the early years of his music career, and claimed that he owed his career to his late friend’s help and support.

Sheeran said: “I really don’t think I would have been given the opportunities that I was given had it not been for Jamal putting his arm around me.

“I was slogging on the acoustic singer-songwriter scene for a very long time, just blending in, and Jamal was this sort of tastemaker.

“A lot of people assume that [because] I write songs and I perform, I probably would have become famous anyway.

“I actually don’t agree with that…I was one of many.”

Who was Jamal Edwards?

Jamal Edwards was a British music entrepreneur and DJ. Edwards was an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, a youth charity founded by King Charles in 1976 which aims to help young people set up their own businesses.

Born in Luton in 1990, Edwards had a background in music and film throughout his career, and as a teenager he launched the production film channel SBTV.

Edwards would upload clips of himself and his friends performing in the area he lived at in Acton, West London.

SBTV originally focused on grime music but branched out to other genres in the later years and helped launch the careers of many up and coming artists at the time such as Ed Sheeran, Jessie J, Stormzy and Emeli Sande.

Here are some of the biggest stars to appear on SBTV:

• Ed Sheeran
• Jessie J
• Stormzy
• Emeli Sande
• Rita Ora
• Krept and Konan
• Bugzy Malone

When did Jamal Edwards pass away?

The music entrepreneur died from a heart attack at the age of 31 after taking cocaine and drinking alcohol. An inquest which was held at the coroners court in west London confirmed that the death was drug-related.

Edward’s mother, Brenda Edwards, a singer and Loose Women panellist said that she hoped publicising the circumstances of her son’s death will help prevent other families from suffering a similar loss. Brenda Edwards said: “These types of substances are extremely unpredictable, and we can hope that this will encourage others to think wisely when faced with similar situations in the future.”

How Jamal Edwards influenced Ed Sheeran’s career

Edwards gave Sheeran his first break in the music scene in 2010, by allowing him to perform the future single You Need Me, I Don’t Need You on his YouTube channel.

The success of that video caught the attention of the pop stars manager Stuart Camp and his record label Atlantic.

Sheeran said: “I really don’t think I would have been allowed through certain doors if it hadn’t been for Jamal.

“He was just all about finding people and showing people new opportunities, at a time where the industry was mostly based in London.”

What are the lyrics to Ed Sheeran’s new song?

Ed Sheeran’s new song F64 reflects on the grieving process of losing one of his closest friends. Sheeran also expresses sadness at Edwards not getting to meet his daughter Jupiter who was born in May last year.

The song is available for you to stream on Spotify and Apple Music. You can also watch the video on the SBTV Youtube channel.

Here are the lyrics to the song F64:

Yo Jam, this is a letter to you

It’s been a while, but it’s been hard for me to get in the booth

Since we last spoke, I’ve become a father of two

Trying to live life with a smile but that’s been harder to do

Cause all I wanna do is talk about you

But these tears won’t let me talk about you

We should’ve known that we’d be lost without you

Therapy session, digging deep in depression

I got a life full of blessing, but this just breaks my f*****g heart

At your birthday, couldn’t even crack a smile

I just cried and left the party, Neesh, I’ll see you in a while

Heading to the mural, got some jerk wings and plantain

Cause that is the way that me and you would celebrate it

I never knew that you touched the stuff, cause you’d always bad me up you saw me more than drunk, you always hated what it does

Before lyra I just stopped, I haven’t even wanted one

I can’t get over, this is f****d, man I wished I’d known

And yo, we cried for nine nights in your family home

Laid you to rest in the ground but without a stone

You know it hits me most at moments, now when I’m alone

Every morning, I remember that you’re really gone

Cause it’s been a long night and I cry cause I miss you my brother

You know for life, got your sis and mother

Day and night it still hurts that you’re gone

And right now, I’m spilling tears in my cup

You left the world before you met Jupiter

Wish you’d have known, you would be godfather

You would’ve loved loving my little girls

If not for them, I’d be done with the world

Was there two hours after you passed

Speeding east to west, silent in the back of the car

Was at your mum’s, there all week, trying to make sense but I can’t

And although it’s been a year, still feeling the pain in my heart

Cause you were there from the start

The day we met, yeah I moved in and we were never apart

People assumed that we were lovers but we’re brothers in arm

Symbiotic bond of love and gave each other a chance, my god

Ah f**k sake, lately I’ve been crying so much that my lungs ache

Teardrops all over my skirt like blood stains

And I know to heal a heart, it must break

But I’m done praying

They gave me a shovel at your burial and watching you get lowered is something I can’t forget at al

And people find and stop me in the street and say it’s terrible

But they don’t know you like I knew you and they never will

No one saw the nights turn into day when we were battle rapping

No one saw the belly laugh and ever train to somewhere random

No one saw the holidays, and our first experience clubbing

No one knew the things you did for me and never asked for nothing

No one read the conversations of the moves that we were planning

No one knew about the way you felt the scene, left you abandoned

No one knows about you fears as you would hide them with a smile

No one knew when people took an inch you would give them a mile

Cause that was always Jamal, SB to the crowd

They used to shout your net worth

Bu they don’t mention it now

They talk about good deeds and that infectious smile

A golden heart that’s still remembered is worth more than a crown

I promised sixty-four bars and now I keep it to Tanisha

Mommy, Isaac, the gang, but I just wish that you’d seen it

I can’t accept that you’re gone, or the grief that I’m feeling

I prayed to God for answers but he still wont give me a reason

I think about you every day, nothing will take this pain away

I’ll keep your legacy amazing mate

The conversations at your grave’s the only way to be close

I know you’ll great me with a smile on the day that I go

Cause it’s been a long night and I cry cause I miss my brother

And for life, got your sis and mother

You know I cry cause I miss my brother

My brother was SBTV