“Come to the shaolin chamber of danger, feel the anger…” Official repress of the O.G. French compilation series collecting source material sampled by RZA for Wu-Tang’s group and solo joints. Not to be confused with the RZA-approved Shaolin Soul Selection (which was a nice collection of rare Stax joints but… not the same), the Shaolin Soul series kicked off in 1998 with part 1 and was quickly followed by part 2 (this one) in 2001, collecting rare darts by Black Ivory (“I Keep Asking You Questions,” sampled in Raekwon's “Criminology”), Syl Johnson (“I Hear The Love Chimes,” sampled in RZA’s “Do You Hear The Bells?”), Montana (“Warp Factor II” > Meth’s “Retro Godfather”), George Jackson (“Aretha Sing One For Me” > Ghost’s “Child’s Play”), and on and on. 19 tracks altogether pressed on 4 sides of vinyl with CD version included. These comps are the ultimate crate saver for any DJ rocking funky breaks or looking to build a clever bridge between soul and hip-hop segments in their set, or, load it into your MPC or SP-12 to get your sampling chops up (also tried-and-true backyard barbecue soundtrack). Going on 20 years old, they’re almost as classic as the original joints. And don’t miss episodes one and three, also just reissued. Recommended.

• black double vinyl pressing
• includes CD
• music label: Because Music 2018

reviewed by big dumb man 04/2018