| THE VOICE JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2012 23

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Empire state of mindEmpire state of mindEmpire state of mindEmpire state of mindEmpire state of mindJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDJAMAL EDWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSWARDSSo Solid Crew rock the O2!

Keyshia Cole V

Beyoncé

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24 � THE VOICE MARCH 28 - APRIL 3, 2013

Russell Simmons with daugh-ters Aoki Lee and Ming Lee

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Jamie Foxx with daughterCorrine

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6 7 9 10

11 12 1513 14

Will Smith with daughterWillow

Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy Seal and daughter LouSamuel

Simon Webbe with daughterAlana

Ludacris and daughterKarma

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Eddie Murphy with daugh-ters Bria and Shayne

Tyrese and daughter Shayla

Lil Wayne and daughterReginae Carter

Thierry Henry with daughterTéa

Ashley Walters and daughterParis

Denzel Washington withdaughter Olivia

Muhammad Ali and daugh-ter Laila

Richard Williams withdaughters Venus andSerena

Where would some of us be without our dads? Here, a selection of celeb fathersshow off the special women in their lives

Rosina St James

1 5

Barack Obama with daugh-ters Malia and Sasha

Idris Elba with daughter Isan

DADDY’S GIRLS

FOR THE past few years, Rosina hasspent much of her spare time mentor-ing young Londoners, including aprison inmate currently serving a six-year sentence. The 21-year-old tele-phones her mentee once a week and isone of only a handful of people whovisits him regularly.

“I am determined to use my freedom toprevent others losing theirs over and overagain,” she said.

The LSE African and CaribbeanSociety President is also the current ViceChair of the British Youth Council, oversee-

ing the needs of over 200 member organi-sations including Unicef UK, The Prince’sTrust and all the regional Youth Councilsacross the country. Her passion for politicshas earned her an appearance on BBCBreakfast, where she was invited to discussthe findings of a report compiled in partner-ship with the Department for Health on thevisibility of nurses in schools.

As co-founder of social enterprise TheInner Attitude, Rosina has worked to buildthe self-confidence of dozens of youngwomen in inner city London since 2007.

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www.rarerecruitment.co.uk

Dear Kat,I recently broke up with my boyfriend and I’m finding it hard to get

over him. We were together for eight years and split because the argu-ments had started becoming a daily thing.

He says he has moved on and is in love with someone else, whichhurts as I thought we’d always get back together.

Throughout our relationship, he always gave 110 per cent and Iadmit that my love didn’t always match his, but that’s all a part ofmaturing.

I don’t want to disrespect his new relationship, but I’m having trou-ble letting him go.

What should I do?Toni, 19

Hi Toni,Welcome to adulthood, my dear. Break-ups are tough. I can’t and

won’t dress it up as anything different. I’ve been there so can confi-dently assure you that it gets easier.

I guess what compounds your situation is that you were in a rela-tionship with your ex for so long therefore your loss is always goingto feel greater.

Don’t get caught up in what your ex is saying about moving onand being “in love”. You said you’ve recently broken up, so I doubthe’s found love so soon after losing you. Don’t let his words tortureyou.

As clichéd as it sounds, if you’re meant to be with this guy, every-thing will work itself out and you will be. In the meantime, concen-trate on you. Go out with friends, take a trip to the spa – even go ondates. There’s nothing more attractive than a woman who is happyand confident.

MARCH 28 - APRIL 3, 2013 THE VOICE � 25

AT 22, he'sreportedly worth£6m, owns 100per cent of hiscompany and

can list fellow business mogulRichard Branson as a friend,but for SB.TV founder JamalEdwards the recipe's simple. “Self-belief is the main ingredi-ent,” he says.

“I'm a rebel at heart. Whenpeople say 'no' I do it anywaybecause I know I can. That'swhy self-belief is so important.Of course I get worried when Ilaunch something new. I won-der if it will connect with myaudience, but it's important notto dwell on that and go fullsteam ahead.”

It's this defiant mantra thathas seen the media mogul gofrom a humble fashion shopassistant to the CEO of theUK's leading online youthbroadcaster.

Dubbed the 'Simon Cowell ofgrime music', Jamal foundedSB.TV, named after his rappingmoniker Smokey Barz, in 2006as a platform to push the UK

grime scene. The online channel, which

also hosts lifestyle interviewsand event coverage, nowboasts over 130 millionYouTube hits, 215,000 channelsubscribers and is arguably theplace to be if you're an aspiringor established act.

In 2011, the channel wastaken to new heights afterJamal's incredible 'rags toriches' journey was featured ina prime-time advert for GoogleChrome. Sandwiched betweensegments of the popular ITV 1show, The X Factor, the busi-nessman's meteoric rise wasdocumented for all to see.Close to one million peoplegoogled ‘Jamal Edwards’ fol-lowing its airing and the subse-quent traffic surge crashed theSB.TV website.

“That has to be one of mycareer highlights,” the westLondoner, who earlier this yearsigned a deal with Sony RCAmaking him CEO of his ownmusic company, Just JamRecords, says.

“The advert was broadcast

when [boy band] One Directionperformed on The X Factor,which was great. It was all overthe TV and that was a bigmoment for me. At the timeJustin Bieber and Lady Gagawere the only ones to havedone one, so I was in goodcompany.”

His story is inspirationalenough to awaken hope in anypessimist but, according to theastute businessman we’ve onlyread the first chapter. Jamal iskeen to keep evolving, recentlyadding a fashion and comedychannel to his already impres-sive portfolio.

“I know I started in music,but I've branched into comedyand fashion now. People willask, 'What makes you thinkyou're going to do it? And I'll belike, 'why not?' I'll apply thesame mentality that I apply tomusic and replicate it in otherareas and hopefully build thoseas strong as the music chan-nel.”

More recently, he steppedout

from behind his beloved SB.TVcamera and in front of anotherwhen he made his acting debutin online drama, Steffi.

The series, based on best-selling novel The OvernightFame of Steffi McBride byAndrew Croft, also starsSugababe Jade Ewen andJasmine Breinburg, who had astarring role in last year'sOlympic opening ceremony.

Taking on the role of Pete, a“laid-back and funny” charac-ter, which he describes as “likeme in real life”, Jamal plays thelove interest of the lead protag-onist.

“[The role] is pretty cool. It'snot like someone acting like abad man, it just seemed right.”.

He admits that he was nerv-ous about how his new venturewould be received by his armyof fans, who are only used toseeing the mogul starring inadverts and cameos in musicvideos as himself.

“At first I was like, 'What am Idoing? But in the end I just didit. As long as I've knownmyself, I have never given upon opportunities, I just takethem. Plus, it's another thing Ican tick off my bucket list.”

Calling on the help of hissinging star mother BrendaEdwards, who many willremember from the secondseries of The X Factor in 2005and currently starring in WestEnd musical We Will Rock You,Jamal learned many valuabletricks of the trade.

“My mum was great. Shehelped me get the character

right. We'd practice minutesbefore she was due on stage.She'd take my script away andmake me recite my lines to her.She also told me to record mylines and play them over andover again.”

Steffi was broadcast onYouTube channel ThisIsDramaon March 15 and a relievedJamal says he was inundatedwith positive feedback.

“I had a lot of people say, 'Ididn't know you could act.' Ihaven't had any bad commentsyet.”

On how he generally dealswith the not-so-nice remarks,he merely points out, “I knowfor all of the positive feedback Iget, if I can't take negative feed-back, there's no point in lookingat the positive. It's not a perfectworld out there.”

Although he hasn't ruled outfuture acting roles, Jamal sayshis new-found vocation will not

take over from his duties atSB.TV, which he says is and willalways be his “main concern”.

“Everything else is just sec-ondary,” he affirms.

He vows to use the popularplatform to inspire the youngergeneration, recently joiningforces with Channel 4 to offer a12-month paid apprenticeshipat SB.TV.

Jamal, who recently returnedfrom an “eye-opening” visit toSouth Africa for Comic Relief,adds: “There are so manyyoung people out there whoare finding it hard to find work.Anything I can do to helpyoung people out, I'll do.”

And when all is said anddone, what does he want to beremembered for?

“I want them to say 'healways believed in himself'”

To watch episodes of Steffi, visit:www.youtube.com/thisisdramaFollow @JamalEdwards on Twitter

Like fellow rapper Wretch 32, north London’sSkepta was also refused entry into the So

Solid Crew’s reunion show. He didn’t letthe incident slide by quietly

“Police have said I'm not allowed inthe venue because I might bring

gang members but nobody said thisuntil I got to the door.”

WRETCH 32: The UK rapper was left

fuming after he wasrefused entry into the SoSolid Crew reunion show

at London’s IndigO2

BOBBY BROWN: The singer’s 55-day stayin prison was reduced tonine hours after he was

released because of“overcrowding”

BEYONCE: The former Destiny’sChild star has been

confirmed as the newface of H&M’s summer

range

SO SOLID: The south London

garage collective playedto a sold-out audience at

London’s IndigO2

Sexy, slick, trendy

LANCE GROSS: Simple, effortless, chic

JENNIFER HUDSON:

TWEET OF THEWEEK

Skepta

Entrepreneur Jamal Edwards talks to YV’s DionneGrant about moving into acting, the future ofSB.TV and learning the art of self-belief

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