Yu Xihong's Shaw Bros Library Encore No3!

Well folks I think I'm at the end of the line and I'm going out with a bang. It's time for me to really take a break from this... perhaps for good. I've found most of the stuff I've set out to find. It's really starting to sink in that some of this stuff is probably gone forever, unless one happens to be a seriously connected guy. I'm by no means a connected guy so I'm at the mercy of my wallet (in this recession). There is still hope though as companies are re-releasing libraries and classic Italian scores on CD. I spend more time looking for this stuff than actually listening to it, so it's about time I step back and look over my work. Also, it was only possible due to the library and the kungfu communities. I don't exactly have contributors, but I give credit where it's due. What matters is that this stuff will be around for years to come. There are kungfu library fans out there right now who just don't know they're fans yet.

Part 1
Part 2

5 Shaolin Masters
5 Superfighters
5 Venoms
7 Man Army
36th Chamber of Shaolin
Avenging Eagle
Big Brother Cheng
Brave Archer
Challenge of the Gamesters
Fake Ghostcatchers
Fist of the White Lotus
Invincible Shaolin
Judgement of an Assassin
Kid With the Golden Arm
Legend of the Bat
Lost Souls
Naval Commandos
Savage 5
Shanghai 13
Spiritual Boxer
Treasure Hunters
Vengeful Beauty
Young Lovers on Flying Wheels

There's no big difference in file size so download whichever you want first. Just make sure you get them both.

I want to give a hearty thanks to Double O Soul for his Luciani stuff. I never would have found that or have known to look for it on my own. Not to mention it costs way more than I'm willing to pay. It's absolutely essential for the library. Kudos to Your Pal Doug for unknowingly giving me a heads up on some great stuff also... some stuff that was icing on the cake for this last installment. So what's next for Hatembargo? I might have to shift some new gears for the new year.

Update!

Well I've been pretty ambitious in tracking certain LPs down and let me tell you... Encore No3 is going to be monumental! Before I get into that, I'll say this. I've since taken care of two of my requests and another two (Zenith and Sept Preludes) were filled a couple of months ago. I got my hands on Episodes From the Bible No2 and it was a tremendous let down! Lame as hell! I hate to get burned like that, but it's all in the game. The first volume was excellent, but this one doesn't measure up in any shape, form, or fashion. So now I'm left hanging on the cliff... Derek Laren made a certain track that is in the same style of a whole SUITE of tracks I've been searching for since day one. So where the hell are they!? Could there be an Episodes From the Bible No3? Did someone copy his style?

I got burnt by Eric Towren so, I'm guessing this is deja vu. Robert Hermel and Eric Towren have done work in the same style so I need to find Laren's successor. The only other guy I can think of is Edouard Michael (14 Pictorial Sketches for Orchestra No1). And this brings me to my next update, I finally got 14 Pictorial Sketches for Orchestra No2 (by Trombey). It wasn't all that, but it had what I needed. I was just hoping there would be more of it. 5/14 isn't that bad considering there are LPs where only one track is good. Now for the Shaw fans, these tracks are top notch! You do hear it don't you? Encore No3 will be ready as soon as I receive my next two LPs and I may call it quits after that unless people start selling some better stuff online.

Lastly, I got these above mentioned LPs (Laren/Trombey) from that Japanese site. How? All credit is due to Ooh! Japan. Since they want to be so difficult over there, some people have taken it upon themselves to get in the business of doing what the other guys won't. And that's shipping over seas... for a fee of course. They'll buy the item(s), package, and ship them according to your specifications. It wasn't cheap, I'll admit, but I got what I wanted and that's what matters. The downside is that USPS makes one attempt to deliver "signed confirmation" packages and then they hold them. My express shipping went to waste because they didn't leave a note on my door. Anyway, I'm glad this service was available. Encore No3 will be up in a week or two.

Instrumental Series Vol.3 - Philly Underground

Philly rappers have had a stigma for a while now that they all sound alike. Is that a good or a bad thing? I've always thought it was a compliment that our city has a recognizable style. Naturally every region thinks they're the best and has a preference for its own music. As far as I know, Philly rappers were often overlooked because we didn't have major label influence. It became business as usual for rappers/artists to go the independent route. I don't know how many of our local talents were signed to some sort of deal but they never saw the light of day.

The success stories of the underground are still short lived. "State Property" was "the team to beat" for a few years. Through Rocafella, they spread a lot of our Philly style to New York. New Yorkers then claimed certain things as their own ideas and spread them to the rest of the country. I'm not going to get into that because that's a different discussion. Anyway, ROC put Philly on the map starting with Beanie Sigel back in 99. Over the years we've had a lot of talent and beef seems to bring out the best and worst in everyone.

SP started cooking with gas when they erupted a city wide beef against Major Figgas. SP members literally come from all parts of the city while MF was mostly North Philly... in particular "Erie Ave" (EA and GTown Aves are major arteries in North Philly and have a deep rap history). Their beef spilled out onto the radio Power 99 "Come Up Show" and people throughout the tri-state took notice. Some people would say that since Rocafella was the only group in Philly getting any shine for a while that everybody else was jealous and it made them a target. That's exactly what happened. ROC had to defend from ALL SIDES. The SP vs MF era had a legitimate reason for getting started though, but I'm not going into that either. A new generation of up and comers saw this as their foothold into the underground. Come at whoever is on top. As different rappers got a buzz, some no name guy out of left field would kick dirt on his name and became damn near famous. Every time someone got a buzz, they started a team or formed an alliance. Different teams would beef and hope to blow things so far out of proportion that it would be impossible not to know about it.

The gift and the curse to the Philly underground was Norristown's "Big Star." He had been filming raw talent for years all the way back to the early-mid 90's. One day he got the idea that he could cash in and started making DVDs and they were TOP NOTCH. With one DVD in particular, he changed the game... Ground Zero. Stars were born! Whether any of those guys are still stars now, I don't know. I've severed all ties with mixtapes and rap DVDs. The problem with this is that, Big Star put a lot of effort into his work and it showed. Everybody else started making their own DVDs and rarely did they measure up in terms of talent, quality, availability, and variety. People who were flat out wack were getting filmed just because they knew a guy who knew a guy. There was no distribution. You had to buy them at a handful of spots in the whole city. They lacked menus and extras. The market got flooded with mediocre DVDs filled with endless beef and no name battle rappers. Even those who made a name in battling bought into their own hype and thought they could transition into the industry, but it didn't work out. There's always exceptions to the rule though. Paperchasers' original Bananas DVD was a mess, but it's still one of the hottest Philly DVDs ever.

Some people who I thought were hott at some point: Chic Raw, Kre, Elliot Ness, Cassidy, Ab Liva, Gillie, Hollowman, Spittage, Sandman, Vodka, Sigel, Freeway, Cyssero, Lil' Frank, Sandtana, and Jakk Frost.

The funny thing about Philly is that everybody here raps even if they won't admit it. These instrumentals aren't strictly by Philly artists... not by a longshot. It's just that, they speak to our sound and represent the best of the best beats used in Philly underground mixtapes and DVDs. Some of these weren't used but should have been and 3 others I did myself and I know Philly rappers/fans would LOVE them.

Disc One

01. Smoothe Da Hustler - Broken Language
02. Mobb Deep - Click Click
03. Ram Squad - Ballers
04. Stat Quo - Like Dat
05. Young Gunz - Look in Our Eyes
06. Cam'ron - Just Fire
07. Cassidy - Blood Pressure
08. Diplomats - Somebody Gotta Die Tonight
09. Fat Joe - It's Nothing
10. Juvenile - In My Life
11. Game - Aim Ya Gunz
12. Talib Kweli - Revolution
13. Hrangue - Shaolin Workout
14. Jakk Frost - Crash Da Party
15. M.O.P. - Breaking All the Rules
16. Tragedy Khadafi - Straight Death
17. Young Gunz - Dead or Alive
18. Alchemist - Feel This
19. Notorious B.I.G. - Biggie
20. D12 - How Come
21. Lil' Flip - Package of Power
22. Freeway - All My Life
23. Consequence - Niggaz Get Knocked
24. Lloyd Banks - Banks Workout
25. Cuban Link - Unknown
26. Saigon - Letter P
27. Mobb Deep - Crawling

Disc Two

01. Hrangue - Vicious Cycle
02. LL Cool J - I Shot Ya
03. Cassidy - Can I Talk to You
04. Kanye West - Jesus Walks
05. Alchemist - Thats That
06. Ja Rule - Clap Niggaz
07. Jim Jones - Baby Girl
08. Mack 10 - Wanted
09. Mobb Deep - Clap First
10. Diplomats - What's Really Good
11. The High and Mighty - The Red Light
12. Tragedy Khadafi - Blood Type
13. G-Unit - Gangsta Shit
14. Saigon - The Color Purple
15. State Property - They Know Us
16. Big Noyd - Bang Bang
17. Little Tragedy - Stay Free
18. Mobb Deep - Quiet Storm
19. Elliot Ness - My Hood
20. Papoose - License to Kill
21. Sheek Louch - Red Dot
22. Obie Trice - The Set Up
23. Juelz Santana - Ladies
24. Nas - Ether
25. Hrangue - Spilaphilia

Get it here!

Like Kiss said one time... "We make other niggas beats sound like we paid for 'em." Philly was known for that. That Cuban Link instrumental is one of my faves but I couldn't tell the name of it from looking at the cover way back when. If you know it, drop a line. And you know I'm smellin' my own right?

And kudos to Blog Do Nirso for the 2 tracks I sampled.

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