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Once Upon a Time in Shaolin
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is the seventh studio album by the American hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. Only one copy was created, with no ability to download or stream it. Feeling the value of music had been cheapened by the internet, the producers Cilvaringz and RZA hoped to return it to the value of fine art. The only copy was purchased in 2015 for $1.5 million, making it the most expensive work of music ever sold.
The album was recorded in secret over six years from 2007 to 2013. A single two-CD copy was pressed in 2014 and stored in a secured vault in Casablanca, Morocco, then sold through the auction house Paddle8 in 2015. A legal agreement with the purchaser stipulated that the album cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, although it can be played at listening parties.
The winning bidder was Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. 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. In July 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice sold it to a corporate entity for more than $2 million to cover Shkreli's debts; it was then sold to the non-fungible token collectors PleasrDAO for $4 million.
The first public exhibition of the album began in June 2024 at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania. That month, Shkreli livestreamed the album on X, triggering a lawsuit from PleasrDAO. PleasrDAO also began selling partial ownership of the album as an NFT, with each purchase accelerating the release by 88 seconds.
Wu-Tang Clan began working on Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in the late 2000s. It took about six years to complete, recorded in secret, mostly in Staten Island, New York, and produced in Marrakech, Morocco. It features the entire Wu-Tang Clan, plus the rapper Redman, the Wu-Tang Killa Beez, FC Barcelona football players, the actress Carice van Houten and two appearances from the singer and actress Cher. The Wu-Tang rapper Method Man said the members were not told they were working on a Wu-Tang album, and that they were uncomfortable with the single-copy concept after it was announced.
Inspired by musical patronage during the Renaissance, the Wu-Tang producer Cilvaringz decided to create Once Upon a Time in Shaolin as an art object. Feeling the value of music had been cheapened by streaming and online piracy, he and the Wu-Tang producer RZA hoped to return it to the value of fine art. They wrote on their website:
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.
Wu-Tang deleted the master files. A single copy, on two CDs, is held in a silver jewel-encrusted box with a wax Wu-Tang Clan seal and leather-bound liner notes. On March 3, 2015, the box was detained at JFK Airport for three hours while border control determined its contents. That month, Wu-Tang Clan exhibited the album to a crowd of about 150 art collectors, dealers and critics in Queens, New York. Attendees were searched for recording devices. About 13 minutes of the album were played to the audience.
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Once Upon a Time in Shaolin
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is the seventh studio album by the American hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. Only one copy was created, with no ability to download or stream it. Feeling the value of music had been cheapened by the internet, the producers Cilvaringz and RZA hoped to return it to the value of fine art. The only copy was purchased in 2015 for $1.5 million, making it the most expensive work of music ever sold.
The album was recorded in secret over six years from 2007 to 2013. A single two-CD copy was pressed in 2014 and stored in a secured vault in Casablanca, Morocco, then sold through the auction house Paddle8 in 2015. A legal agreement with the purchaser stipulated that the album cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, although it can be played at listening parties.
The winning bidder was Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. 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. In July 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice sold it to a corporate entity for more than $2 million to cover Shkreli's debts; it was then sold to the non-fungible token collectors PleasrDAO for $4 million.
The first public exhibition of the album began in June 2024 at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania. That month, Shkreli livestreamed the album on X, triggering a lawsuit from PleasrDAO. PleasrDAO also began selling partial ownership of the album as an NFT, with each purchase accelerating the release by 88 seconds.
Wu-Tang Clan began working on Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in the late 2000s. It took about six years to complete, recorded in secret, mostly in Staten Island, New York, and produced in Marrakech, Morocco. It features the entire Wu-Tang Clan, plus the rapper Redman, the Wu-Tang Killa Beez, FC Barcelona football players, the actress Carice van Houten and two appearances from the singer and actress Cher. The Wu-Tang rapper Method Man said the members were not told they were working on a Wu-Tang album, and that they were uncomfortable with the single-copy concept after it was announced.
Inspired by musical patronage during the Renaissance, the Wu-Tang producer Cilvaringz decided to create Once Upon a Time in Shaolin as an art object. Feeling the value of music had been cheapened by streaming and online piracy, he and the Wu-Tang producer RZA hoped to return it to the value of fine art. They wrote on their website:
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.
Wu-Tang deleted the master files. A single copy, on two CDs, is held in a silver jewel-encrusted box with a wax Wu-Tang Clan seal and leather-bound liner notes. On March 3, 2015, the box was detained at JFK Airport for three hours while border control determined its contents. That month, Wu-Tang Clan exhibited the album to a crowd of about 150 art collectors, dealers and critics in Queens, New York. Attendees were searched for recording devices. About 13 minutes of the album were played to the audience.