Wu-Tang Clan's secret album surfaces in podcast episode

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 16 Oct, 22:08 · Archive

Two snippets of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, a secret album purchased by Martin Shkreli in 2015, have been released in a podcast episode.

Wu-Tang Clan recorded Once Upon a Time in Shaolin between 2007 and 2013 as a 31-track double album reuniting the Staten Island rap crew's remaining members. It featured collaborators including Redman and actor Carice van Houten. The group created only a single physical copy, bound in silver and placed under a legal stipulation that it could not be used commercially for 88 years.

Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceutical executive widely criticised for raising drug prices, purchased the only copy at auction in 2015 for $2m. After Shkreli forfeited the album to the US government, it was sold in 2021 to PleasrDAO, a cryptocurrency art collective, which has since allowed it to be played at special exhibitions.

The podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out has now released two snippets from the album, recorded during a listening party. Wu-Tang member Method Man attended the event and heard the album for the first time. His response, according to the podcast: 'I do not hate this album.' A Netflix documentary, The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable, has also explored the album's history.

How it is being reported

• We can finally hear some of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon A Time in Shaolin albumWu-Tang's Once Upon A Time in Shaolin album has, for the most part, been extremely difficult to listen to, but you can now hear two snippets of the album thanks to the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, which just published an episode all about the exclusive record. Once Upon A Time in Shaolin has a […]The Verge · 16 Oct, 21:50
• The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable review – Netflix doc on ‘secret album’ is strictly for super fansThe lore of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, once bought by Martin Shkreli, is explored in a rambling film produced by RZA For every reason except one, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the seventh album by the Wu-Tang Clan , should’ve been a commercial hit. The 31-track double album, recorded in secret between 2007 and 2013, reunited all of the remaining members of the hallowed Staten Island rap crew and featured eye-catching collaborators from the standard (Redman, offshoot group Wu-Tang Killa Bees) to the unexpected (Cher, Game of Thrones actor Carice van Houten). The sound, at least according to…The Guardian · 16 Oct, 10:00

In this story: Wu-Tang Clan · Once Upon a Time in Shaolin · Martin Shkreli · Method Man · PleasrDAO · Staten Island · Pablo Torre Finds Out

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