Once Upon a Time in Shaolin

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is the seventh studio album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. It was limited to a single copy sold in 2015, and is the most expensive individual album ever sold.

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin
Studio album by
Wu-Tang Clan
ReleasedNovember 25, 2015
Recorded2008–2013
GenreHip hop
Length110:12
Producer
Wu-Tang Clan chronology
A Better Tomorrow
(2014)		 Once Upon a Time in Shaolin
(2015)		 The Saga Continues
(2017)

The album was recorded in secret over six years. A single two-CD copy was pressed in 2014 and stored in a secured vault at the Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco, then auctioned through auction house Paddle8 in 2015.[1] A legal agreement with the purchaser stipulated that the album cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, although it can be released free or played during listening parties.

The winning bidder was American CEO Martin Shkreli. In March 2018, following Shkreli's conviction for securities fraud, a federal court seized assets belonging to him, including Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.

Recording

Wu-Tang Clan began working on Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in the late 2000s with producer Cilvaringz. It took about six years to complete, and was recorded mostly in Marrakech, Morocco.[2] It features the entire Wu-Tang Clan, plus rapper Redman, FC Barcelona soccer players, and two appearances from Cher.[3][4]

Single-album concept
The ornate casing for the album

Inspired by the success of Nipsey Hussle's mixtape Crenshaw, limited-edition copies of which sold for $100, Cilvaringz and co-producer RZA decided to create Once Upon A Time In Shaolin as an art object.[3] Feeling the value of music had been cheapened by streaming and online piracy, they hoped to return music to the value of fine art.[2] They wrote on their website:[3]

The music industry is in crisis. The intrinsic value of music has been reduced to zero. Contemporary art is worth millions by virtue of its exclusivity ... By adopting a 400 year old Renaissance-style approach to music, offering it as a commissioned commodity and allowing it to take a similar trajectory from creation to exhibition to sale ... we hope to inspire and intensify urgent debates about the future of music.

The album was held in a silver jewel-encrusted box with a wax Wu-Tang Clan seal and leather-bound liner notes.[4] On March 3, 2015, it was detained at JFK Airport for three hours while border control determined the contents of its box.[5] In March 2015, Wu-Tang Clan exhibited the album for the only time, to a crowd of about 150 art collectors, dealers, and critics in Queens, New York.[4] Attendees were searched for recording devices.[4] About 13 minutes of the album were played to the audience.[4]

Auction

Once Upon A Time In Shaolin was auctioned through Paddle8 in 2015, which had previously sold works by artists including Jeff Koons, Julian Schnabel, Damien Hirst.[2] Legal agreements stipulated that the album could not be commercially exploited for 88 years, although it could be released free or played at listening parties.[6] According to RZA, the number eight was symbolic as there were eight original members of the Wu-Tang Clan, the numbers of the year 2015 add up to eight, Paddle8 has eight in its name, and a rotated eight is the symbol for infinity, used on their second album, Wu-Tang Forever.[7]

Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, who won the only copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin at auction

The winning bid was accepted on May 3, 2015, followed by months of legal diligence.[8] The sale was completed on August 26, 2015 to a private individual for an unspecified amount.[9] On December 9, Bloomberg Businessweek identified the buyer as Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, who had paid $2 million.[10][11] RZA said that the sale was agreed before Shkreli's controversial price hike of the anti-infective agent Daraprim. According to RZA, after learning the buyer's identity, the Wu-Tang Clan donated a "significant portion" of the proceeds to charity,[12] including the Children's Literacy Society, the Hip Hop Chess Federation and TTAC, an institution focused on showcasing alternative cures for cancer.[13]

In January 2016, Shkreli told Vice that he had considered destroying the record or "installing it in some remote place so that people have to make a spiritual quest to listen".[14] He promised to release the album free if Donald Trump won the 2016 US presidential election. In November, after Trump was elected, Shkreli streamed excerpts of the album online.[15]

In September 2017,[16] Shkreli attempted to sell Once Upon a Time in Shaolin on the online auction site eBay, with the winning bid passing $1m. He was incarcerated on unrelated fraud counts before the sale could be completed.[17] RZA disapproved of the sale, and said: "I think he could have got more than what he paid. I was actually impressed that within eight days he got up to $1m in bidding ... If it had been left a bit longer, no telling how far it would have gone."[18] RZA hoped to buy it himself, but was contractually unable to.[19]

In March 2018, following Shkreli's conviction for fraud, a federal court seized assets belonging to him worth $7.36m, including Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.[20] Shkreli's lawyer Benjamin Brafman said the album was now "probably worthless".[20]

Music

According to Complex, reporting from the exhibition in Queens, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is "rich, layered, and sonically bombastic", with a "rugged, hard-hitting sound" reminiscent of early Wu-Tang Clan albums. It begins with "ominous, foreboding" sounds of rain and thunder, before rapper Raekwon begins the first verse. Other sounds include fire sirens, crowd applause, and a marching drum beat. Cher appears twice, as singer and actress, and closes the record with the "belted" words: "Wu-Tang baby, they rock the world".[14] Shkreli played the record during his interview with Vice writer Allie Conti, who said: "From what I heard, it was definitely better than their last album, although I wouldn't say it's worth $2 million necessarily."[14]

Response

Many fans reacted negatively to the news of the single-copy album. Wu-Tang member Method Man spoke out against the 88-year commercial ban, blaming RZA and producer Cilvaringz. RZA replied that the ban was necessary to maintain the integrity of the album as a work of art and to deflect notions of a publicity stunt.[7] The Guinness Book of Records certified Once Upon a Time in Shaolin as the most valuable album in the world, surpassing records by Elvis Presley and the Quarrymen.[21] In February 2016, artist Jason Koza sued RZA, Cilvaringz, Paddle8 and Shkreli in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for the alleged unauthorized use of his artwork on the album.[22][23]

Track listing

The track listing was compiled by Complex.[24]

Personnel
Wu-Tang Clan
Additional personnel
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See also

References
  1. Tshepo Mokoena (January 8, 2015). "Wu-Tang Clan: unique copy of album will be sold by online auction". The Guardian. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  2. Greenburg, Zack O'Malley. "Wu-Tang Clan Secret Album Sold By Paddle8, But To Whom?". Forbes. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  3. Michaels, Sean (March 27, 2014). "Wu-Tang Clan producing one copy of new album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  4. "You'll Never Hear the New Wu-Tang Clan Album, But This Is What It Sounds Like". Complex. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  5. Baker, Soren (March 6, 2015). "Wu-Tang Clan's 'Once Upon A Time In Shaolin' Album Seized At Airport". HipHopDX. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  6. Shawn Christ (March 6, 2015). "Wu-Tang Clan Issue Statement to Clarify 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' Release". Music Times. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  7. George Palathingal (February 20, 2014). "Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man slams 'stupid' release plan for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin". Smh.com.au. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  8. Greenburg, Zack O'Malley. "New Details Emerge On Wu-Tang Clan Secret Album Sale". Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  9. Zack O'Malley Greenburg (November 24, 2015). "Wu-Tang Clan Secret Album Sold By Paddle8, But To Whom?". Forbes. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  10. Justin Hunte (December 16, 2015). "Martin Shkreli Plans To Bail-Out Bobby Shmurda". HipHopDX. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  11. Leonard, David; Hordern, Annmarie (December 9, 2015). "Who Bought The Most Expensive Album Ever Made?". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  12. Devin Leonard; Annmarie Hordern (December 9, 2015). "Pharma's Bad Boy Exec Paid $2 Million for Wu-Tang Clan's New Record". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  13. "TTAC Confirms Donation Wu-Tang Clan".
  14. Staff, Noisey (January 27, 2016). "Martin Skhreli Either Wants to Destroy the $2 Million Wu-Tang Record or Make It a Spiritual Quest". Noisey. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  15. staff, Guardian (November 9, 2016). "Martin Shkreli leaks Wu-Tang Clan album in celebration of Trump victory". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  16. "A Timeline of Events Since Martin Shkreli Purchased Wu Tang Clan's 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin'". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  17. Greenburg, Zack O'Malley. "Why Jeff Sessions May Control The Fate Of Wu-Tang's Secret Album". Forbes. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  18. Hann, Michael (October 26, 2017). "RZA: 'Martin Shkreli sold our album on eBay for $1.2m – he could have got more'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  19. Grow, Kory; Grow, Kory (March 30, 2018). "RZA Wanted to Buy Martin Shkreli's Wu-Tang Album Back for Himself". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  20. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (March 6, 2018). "Martin Shkreli's $2m Wu-Tang Clan album seized by federal court". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  21. Guinness World Records (September 1, 2015). Guinness World Records 2016. Macmillan. p. 187. ISBN 978-1910561027. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  22. Gardner, Eriq (February 9, 2016). "Wu-Tang Clan's $2 Million Album a Target in Copyright Lawsuit". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  23. "Koza v. Diggs et al, Docket No. 1:16-cv-00956 (S.D.N.Y. Feb 09, 2016), Court Docket". Bloomberg Law. February 9, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  24. "You'll Never Hear the New Wu-Tang Clan Album, But This Is What It Sounds Like". Complex. March 3, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  25. "Wu-Tang Clan's U-God Says Cher Is On Unreleased 'Shaolin' Album". Retrieved November 30, 2018.
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