Just as the Wu has kept their careers and names out of the eye of the media, so have been the whereabouts of the WTC’s last full length project, the highly publicized, million dollar Once Upon A Time In Shaolin album. Following the conviction and arrest of former pharma king Martin Shkreli, he was forced to give up the album to federal authorities, but an art collective called PleasrDAO reportedly bought the album for $4 million. The government has refused to confirm that’s the price that was paid.
Earlier this week, the Department of Justice released pictures of the album in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Buzzfeed News, who released the photos to the media. They also released a copy of the bill of sale and purchase agreement.
The RZA and Cilvaringz-produced album is kept in a nickel silver box stored in a cedarwood box and draped in black cow leather with beige velvet lining. The one-of-a-kind album also includes a 175-page lyric book and gold-leafed certificate of authority.
The documents of sale also state that the new owners must adhere to the original agreement that Shkreli agreed; “they may display the presentation box embedded with the Wu-Tang Clan logo, which was designed by British-Moroccan artist Yahya Rouach, but they are prohibited from making copies of the album.”
RZA contends that he’s optimistic about the new owners, stating, “Now that PleasrDAO has it, there’s opportunity that a lot these beautiful ideas of what this art can be and how it could expand itself in the world and in its own life of itself. I think the possibilities are there now.”
