Rytikal rings in birthday with Jahshii and others

'The Chosen' was indeed the celebratory event for Rytikal's birthday at The Meca in Kingston on Wednesday night, but with Jahshii by his side, he made it known that it was "our birthday party".

The two deejays share the same birthday (July 7) and rang it in together to the forwards and phone cameras of a shoulder-to-shoulder audience. With the 'Showtime' rhythm in the background, Rytikal and his host of industry friends shared the microphone and dropped bars from their hottest tunes to the delight of patrons. Jahshii, whose usual bottle-in-hand stance proved perfect for the occasion, reeled out hits like Keep Up, Cream of the Crop and How We Live, while Rytikal came in at intervals to deliver fire tracks including Cookie Jar and Chosen.

Beyond the magnetism of the birthday kings, Shane O received the most deafening reception for the night while performing A Million and Dark Room. The latter, recently endorsed by international producer DJ Khaled, was welcomed to knocking tables, ear-splitting whistles, and countless blank shots as attendees sang each word, even after a double encore. Also passing through to show Rytikal some love were: Denyque, who sang part of her Shaneil Muir-collaboration Same Boy; D'Yani, who sang Feelings and Leader for the ladies; Jahvillani, who gave a piece of Nuh Reason; and Bayka, who reeled out She Like It. Mr Lexx, Khago, Deep Jahi, Tamo J and Kraft were also among the guest artistes.

The spotlight on Rytikal and Jahshii coincided with an earlier report that they are gearing up to release a collaborative EP.

Also providing entertainment for the night were DJ Russian and Mixup Shaka, who balanced music moods with the best of Afrobeats, hip hop and dancehall music.