Once Upon a Time in Shaolin: Album Guide, Artist and Facts

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.

Quick facts about Once Upon a Time in Shaolin

• Title: Once Upon a Time in Shaolin
• Artist: Wu-Tang Clan
• Released: 2014
• Type: Album
• Wikidata ID: Q19627509

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