Sweetie Irie

Born in London, England, Dean Bent began working on local sound systems as a teenager, bringing him to the attention of Angus Gaye of Aswad, who recruited him to toast on the dancehall mix of their single "On and On".[1] He was signed by the Island Records subsidiary Mango Records, and in 1991 released his debut album, DJ of the Future, and singles such as "Money Honey" (with Scoobie), "Maaga Man" and "New Talk" (with Jo 90).[1] His single "Call Me" included him reading out a phone number that turned out to be a real private phone number, causing his record label to pay compensation.[1] In 1991 he appeared on the Scritti Politti single "Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me",[1] which reached no. 47 in the UK Singles Chart.[2] In 2001 he had a UK Top 30 hit with "Who?", a collaboration with UK garage musician Ed Case.[3]

Sweetie Irie has travelled the world performing at events such as Jamaican Sunsplash, Notting Hill Carnival, international shows in Grenada, Trinidad and at Japan Splash. As well as the artists mentioned above, he has also collaborated with Maxi Priest, Ms Dynamite, No Doubt, Spee, Specialist Moss, Gorillaz, Dub War and Gwen Stefani.

In the early 2000s Sweetie Irie released UK garage material through Middlerow Records. These include "Extra Extra", "Holy Morning", "Today’s the Day" and the Battle of the M.C's track, "Bite Dem Up".

He has also presented BBC Television's and Channel 4's programme Flava.

In 2016, Irie featured on a vocal remix of 'Crank It' by Kideko and George Kwali, alongside Nadia Rose. The song peaked at 31 on the Official Singles Chart.[4]