Dean Bent (born January 1971), better known as Sweetie Irie, is a British

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...

Early life

''Sweetie Irie'' began working on local sound systems as a teenager.

Career

He gained the attention of

Angus Gaye Angus Gaye (24 September 1959 – 2 September 2022), better known as Drummie Zeb, was an English musician. He was the drummer and vocalist for the reggae band Aswad, as well as a record producer for other artists. Early life Gaye was born in Lon ...

Aswad Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Tu ...

, who recruited him to MC on the dancehall mix of their 1989 single " On and On". He was then signed by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

and in 1991 released his debut album ''DJ of the Future'' which went gold. Sweetie achieved a No. 53 chart placing with Aswad on the song "Smile" and a No. 47 placing with

Scritti Politti Scritti Politti are a British band formed in 1977 in Leeds by singer-songwriter Green Gartside, who is the sole remaining member of the original band. Initially formed as a punk culture, punk-aligned underground act influenced by leftist poli ...

on " Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me". In 1999, Sweetie joined

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...

outfit Middle Row and in 2001 collaborated with

Ed Case Edward Espenett Case (born September 27, 1952) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district since 2019, which covers the urban core o ...

on a remix of

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...

' hit single "

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

", which charted at number four and went platinum in the UK. He followed that with the top 30 single "Who" (also with Ed Case), which led him to signing with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

. In 2016, Sweetie teamed up with contemporary artists Kideko and George Kwali featuring

Nadia Rose Nadia Rose (born 11 June 1993) is a British rapper and songwriter from Croydon, London. Education Rose studied Music and Music Management at university. Career Rose released her debut EP ''Highly Flammable'' on 13 January 2017 following the su ...

to release the single "Crank It" on the

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publisher (popular music), music publishing busin ...

label which reached No. 31 in the UK. In 2017, Sweetie performed on a special edition of ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' and also performed in the BBC proms as the first reggae artist to do so. In 2018, he collaborated with Redlight on the single "Zum Zum". He has toured for three decades and has performed at festivals including Glastonbury, Wireless, Love Box and Boom Town. As well as the artists mentioned above, he has collaborated with

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...

Ian Brown Ian George Brown (born 20 February 1963) is an English musician. He was the lead singer and the only continuous member of the alternative rock band the Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the band's initial split in 1996, he be ...

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separat ...

, Bobby Digital,

Maxi Priest Max Alfred Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an Contemporary R&B, R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. ...

Shy FX Andre Williams, better known as Shy FX, is a British DJ and producer from London. He specialises in drum and bass and jungle music. Biography Shy FX's debut record was "Jungle Love", released in 1992 on the Permission to Dance label. Soon after ...

, Congo Natty,

Roni Size Ryan Owen Granville Williams (born 29 October 1969), better known by his stage name Roni Size, is an English DJ and record producer. He came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and frontman of Roni Size & Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. ...

, Redlight,

Zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

and

Ms Dynamite Naomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards. Early years She was born Naomi Arleen M ...

. Sweetie teamed up with

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

producer Benny Page, mixing Sweetie's reggae dancehall roots and Page's drum and bass, yielding the album ''Purple''. Sweetie featured on

Afrobeats Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...

producer Julz colour tape album, ''Radar''. In 2020, Sweetie teamed up with Blaise and Nono for the Jin Jin label (Good Body), and regularly appeared on ''Love Island''. Since 2020, Sweetie has been touring with Gorillaz performing the "

" garage remix.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irie, Sweetie Living people 1971 births 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century British male singers English male songwriters British reggae musicians 20th-century Black British male singers 20th-century British male singers UK garage singers