Once Upon a Time in Shaolin

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin...
Studio album by Wu-Tang Clan
Recorded 2008–13
Genre Hip hop
Length 110:12
Producer
Wu-Tang Clan chronology
A Better Tomorrow
(2014)		 Once Upon a Time in Shaolin...
(2015)

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin... is a double album by the New York hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan which was limited to a single copy sold in 2015. One double-CD of the album, which was recorded in secret over six years, was pressed in 2014 and stored in a secured vault at the Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco. The album was auctioned to the highest bidder through auction house Paddle8 in 2015.[1] A legal agreement with the purchaser states it cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, although it can be released for free or played during listening parties.[2] Owner Martin Shkreli shared the intro and part of one track after Donald Trump became the President-elect,[3] after threatening to destroy the album.[4]

Background

The concept to offer a musical work in a single form was conceived by Wu-Tang producer Cilvaringz and was based on music exploitation as a commissioned commodity in the Baroque, Enlightenment and Renaissance ages. The idea was later developed further with Wu-Tang defacto leader RZA into a concept presentable to the public.

The album was auctioned to the highest bidder through auction house Paddle8 in 2015. A winning bid for the album was accepted by the Wu-Tang Clan on May 3, 2015, and was followed by months of legal diligence. Due to the unprecedented nature of the sale, new and unique legal structures were written for the sales agreement. The sale was completed through Paddle8 on August 26, 2015, at a price "in the millions" to a "private American collector".[5] On December 9, 2015, Bloomberg Businessweek identified the buyer as controversial Turing pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli.[6] In a statement emailed to Bloomberg, RZA noted that the sale had been agreed upon before Shkreli's controversial price hike of Daraprim, an anti-infective agent most commonly used in patients with Toxoplasmosis. In the statement, RZA added that the group had donated a "significant portion" of the proceeds to charity upon hearing who the buyer was.[7] Among the charities Wu-Tang Clan donated to were the Children's Literacy Society, the Hip Hop Chess Federation and TTAC, an institution focused on showcasing alternative cures for cancer. The actual sale price was never revealed by Paddle8 or the Wu-Tang Clan, but Bloomberg reported[6] and Shkreli later confirmed[8] that Shkreli had purchased the album for $2 million.

Response

Many fans reacted negatively to the news of the single-copy album, believing that the album would not be available to the public until 2103. Wu-Tang member Method Man spoke out against the 88-year commercial ban, blaming fellow member RZA and producer Cilvaringz. RZA replied that the 88-year ban was necessary to maintain the integrity of the album as a work of art and deflect any notions of a grand marketing or publicity stunt. According to him, the number 8 bears symbolic significance because 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 that was used on their second album Wu-Tang Forever.[9] Wu-Tang later released an official statement saying that, although the album is unable to be sold until 2103, the purchaser still has the right to distribute the contents for free and to hold free listening parties, but deemed the chances of this happening slim due to the hefty price tag of the album.[2]

The Guinness Book of Records certified the album as the most valuable album in existence,[10] outpricing the previous most expensive records in the world held by Elvis Presley and The Quarrymen, later to be known as The Beatles. On March 3, 2015, the album was detained at JFK Airport for three hours while border control determined the contents of the silver box holding the album.[11]

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.[12][13]

Track listing

The actual track listing remained a secret for the buyer. Paddle8 released a track list of working titles the group used during the recordings. The track listing has been compiled by Complex magazine.[14]

Shaolin School
  1. "Entrance (Intro)" (1:57)
  2. "Rivals" (4:12)
  3. "Staple Town Pt. 1 (Interlude)" (0:44)
  4. "Ethiopia" (7:55)
  5. "Handkerchief" (0:49)
  6. "Staple Town Pt. 2 (Interlude)" (1:10)
  7. "The Pillage of ’88" (6:52)
  8. "Centipedes" (7:14)
  9. "The Widow’s Tear" (3:55)
  10. "Sorrow" (5:45)
  11. "Shaolin" (6:14)
  12. "The Saga Continuous" (6:58)
  13. "Shaolin Soul (Exit)" (3:41)
Allah School
  1. "Sustenance (Intro)" (0:43)
  2. "Lions" (6:08)
  3. "Since Time Immemorial" (2:32)
  4. "The Slaughter Mill" (6:31)
  5. "The Brute" (3:24)
  6. "Iqra" (7:23)
  7. "Flowers" (5:49)
  8. "Poisoned Earth" (4:34)
  9. "Freedom (Interlude)" (2:25)
  10. "The Sword Chamber" (4:05)
  11. "Unique" (2:32)
  12. "The Bloody Page" (5:09)
  13. "Salaam (Outro)" (1:31)

References

  1. ↑ Tshepo Mokoena (8 January 2015). "Wu-Tang Clan: unique copy of album will be sold by online auction". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 Shawn Christ (6 March 2015). "Wu-Tang Clan Issue Statement to Clarify 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' Release". Music Times. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Hell Freezes Over as Martin Shkreli Performs a Public Service Gizmodo, November 9, 2016
  4. ↑ Lars Brandle (28 January 2016). "Martin Shkreli Considers Destroying or Leaving Wu-Tang Clan's 'Shaolin' in a Remote Place". Billboard. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Zack O'Malley Greenburg (24 November 2015). "Wu-Tang Clan Secret Album Sold By Paddle8, But To Whom?". Forbes. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 Leonard, David; Hordern, Annmarie (9 December 2015). "Who Bought The Most Expensive Album Ever Made?". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  7. ↑ Devin Leonard; Annmarie Hordern (9 December 2015). "Pharma's Bad Boy Exec Paid $2 Million for Wu-Tang Clan's New Record". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  8. ↑ Justin Hunte (16 December 2015). "Martin Shkreli Plans To Bail-Out Bobby Shmurda". HipHopDX. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  9. ↑ George Palathingal (20 February 2014). "Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man slams 'stupid' release plan for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  10. ↑ Guinness World Records (September 1, 2015). Guinness World Records 2016. Macmillan. p. 187. ISBN 978-1910561027. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Baker, Soren (6 March 2015). "Wu-Tang Clan's 'Once Upon A Time In Shaolin' Album Seized At Airport". HipHopDX. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  12. ↑ Gardner, Eriq (February 9, 2016). "Wu-Tang Clan's $2 Million Album a Target in Copyright Lawsuit". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  13. ↑ Koza v. Diggs, no. 16-00965, (S.D.N.Y., Feb. 9, 2016)
  14. ↑ "You'll Never Hear the New Wu-Tang Clan Album, But This Is What It Sounds Like". Complex. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.

See also

External links

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