Welcome to the eighteenth insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode we’ll discover the crypto-infused legal scandal surrounding Wu-Tang’s $4 million dollar unreleased studio album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin”.
Founded in 1992, Staten Island, New York, the Wu-Tang Clan has incomparably altered rap, style, production and lyrical history over decades of praise as the greatest hip-hop ensemble of all time. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa, Cappadona becoming an official member later in time.
The influence Wu-Tang has garnered is majorly accredited to the sonic diversity found in skits and rhyme schemes. From Raekwon’s unique slang to RZA’s beats and piano chords, each member’s intrinsic merit flowed effortlessly. The group massively assisted in growing the East Coast hip hop scene, using references from comic books and Americana symbolism to drive a raw sound. Frequent use of melodic undertones are heard reminiscent of traditional martial arts, portraying a critical theme throughout their career.
Among Wu-Tang’s library of hit singles and albums, the holy grail is ironically one of the unheard. Demanding over 6 years of labour intensive recording, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” is Wu-Tang Clan’s 7th studio album, limited to a single two-cd copy. Created in spite of the depreciating value surrounding music, the deeply secretive project was recorded in New York, then mastered in Marrakech, Morocco where it remained in a vault until 2015.
Auctioned through online house “Paddle8” that same year, a legal agreement cited the album cannot be commercially exploited for 88 years (2103) but can be released for free or played at events. The highest bidder was revealed as Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals at a bid of $2m - becoming the most expensive piece of musical content ever. Following Shkreli’s federal seize of assets, the work was resold to crypto/NFT fund PleasrDAO for $4m. While we eagerly await the project, teasing snippets have surfaced on Youtube.
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