BBC Radio 1Xtra presenter Nadia Jae has described the late Jamal Edwards as an ‘angel’ after he helped launch her career a decade ago.
SBTV founder Edwards died in February at the age of 31, leaving behind a legacy that saw both him and his popular music platform help propel the likes of Ed Sheeran, Little Mix and Jessie J to global fame.
Nadia, who now fronts 1Xtra’s breakfast show, was one of the many rising stars Edwards helped over the years.
After having a ‘really love in-depth conversation’ when Nadia was working at another station, Edwards specifically requested that she host an event he was appearing at after being impressed by her interviewing skills.
‘Jamal’s very much like that, if he liked you or thought you were talented, he would find ways to get you in places you usually wouldn’t be placed,’ Nadia told Metro.co.uk, still referring to the late entrepreneur in the present tense at times.
‘I’ve never met anyone that doesn’t require anything back, so most friendships, relationships in the industry are quite transactional. You can’t just call anyone your friend, a lot of people are acquaintances, you can do something for them, they can do something for you. If you get past that then you’re lucky but with Jamal it was never like that.’
Nadia Jae’s career got a huge bump when she began presenting on SBTV (Picture: WireImage)
Jamal Edwards died in February at the age of 31 but leaves behind an incredible legacy (Picture: Getty Images)
She recalled ‘fangirling’ over Edwards when they first met before developing a close bond.
‘Just like any friend… whatever he could do for you in his remit, he would do it. He doesn’t ask for any payment, he doesn’t ask for anything back, there’s no transaction,’ the radio DJ recalled.
Nadia continued: ‘That’s always the way I will remember him, as the most selfless human being ever. I genuinely feel like he was gifted to us and he literally was an angel because I don’t understand how, as a human being, you can just function without getting anything back from people and giving so much.
‘Super selfless. He will be missed but I genuinely feel like he’s still feel like he’s here which is why I don’t speak about him in the past tense. It just feels like he’s going to pop up at half the events we’re at.’
Nadia’s career is thriving (Picture: Getty Images)
Nadia is a woman who can do it all and make it look easy – she’s up every morning at 4am to get to the BBC studio for her breakfast show, recently wrote a book about the challenges of everyday people and is also mum to her 16-year-old son.
Still, she insists she’s ‘winging it with grace’.
While having a radio DJ as a mum is pretty cool for any child, Nadia revealed her son isn’t hugely phased after all.
‘I think he lowkey thinks I’m lit but he won’t say it,’ she laughed. ‘If I as a child had a mum that was doing [what I’m doing], I’d be all over the place screaming about it and trying to get free stuff. He’s nothing like that, he’s humble.
‘He does say “I’m proud of you” and I genuinely think nothing shocks him.
‘The ceiling of my success is the floor of his.’
They have a close relationship but her job as his mum means Nadia has had to have that uncomfortable conversation many Black mothers have had with their young sons in particular.
‘He’s 16 and wants to get driving lessons. I said to him, when you get your car you will be racially profiled,’ she explained.
‘Especially if he’s currently pursuing a career in football. So if you’re making a certain amount of money and you’re Black and you’re driving with your music all the way up, you will be profiled.
‘This is something I’ve never experienced, I don’t get stopped as often as a Black man would.’
The high risk of being profiled as a young Black man in Britain means Nadia has even had to tell her son not to wear his hoodie if it’s not raining for fear of him being stopped by police.
‘It’s such a horrible conversation to have with a child who you want to keep innocent but the fact remains, he’s not my three-year-old little Black boy, he’s a 16-year-old man who could pass for 18,’ she said.
‘I say to him make sure you’re not bringing any unwanted attention because it is traumatising. I don’t want him to be stopped by the police – it’s probably going to happen but I want him to be well-equipped and not blindsided.’
Nadia is thriving on 1Xtra with her most recent celebrity interview with none other than Stormzy, who announced his new album last week.
Hosting the breakfast show is a coveted gig on 1Xtra, with past hosts including Dotty and the legendary Trevor Nelson.
Originally only meant to ‘housesit’ after Dotty departed the show, Nadia’s contract was repeatedly extended before producers asked her to take on the mantle fulltime.
Nadia replaced Dotty hosting 1Xtra’s breakfast show in 2020 and is still going strong (Picture: Getty Images)
‘I’m close friends with Dotty so I knew she was going, I just didn’t know anyone was looking at me to take it on,’ the presenter said.
Nadia added: ‘They asked me for another month and another, and by then, which was necessary, I’d got to the point where I actually wanted the show, this feels like it’s mine. I was starting to get a bit territorial.
‘I did have that moment of thinking I don’t deserve it, haven’t been on the station long… I worried if people would respond in a good way. When I was announced, it was actually Trevor – who I’m close with – who took me under his wing very early at 1Xtra which helped as well as Dotty and they all believed in me.’
‘It felt as if everyone was putting me in a position of, “No Nadia, you should have it” rather than me having to fight and climb for it. I felt very supported,’ she continued.
‘I can’t even quantify how that felt. Trevor Nelson announcing me as a successor of him. It was out of this world.
‘I definitely felt odd taking on the show but now feel like I deserve it.’
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October is Black History Month (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
Nadia had been friends with Edwards, who died in February, for years.