Once Upon a Time in Shaolin
| Once Upon a Time in Shaolin | ||||
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| Studio album by Wu-Tang Clan | ||||
| Recorded | 2008–13 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 110:12 | |||
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| Wu-Tang Clan chronology | ||||
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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. It is the most expensive musical work ever sold. 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. 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. Owner Martin Shkreli shared the intro and part of one track after Donald Trump became the President-elect, after threatening to destroy the album.
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 de facto leader RZA into a concept presentable to the public. The album reportedly features the singer and actress Cher as a guest on two of the album's tracks.
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 on August 26, 2015, at a price "in the millions" to a "private American collector". On December 9, 2015, Bloomberg Businessweek identified the buyer as controversial Turing pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli. 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 immunocompromised 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. 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 the auction house or the Wu-Tang Clan, but Bloomberg reported and Shkreli later confirmed that he had purchased the album for $2 million.
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