Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album released as $1 NFTs – here’s how you can buy one
“It’s time to bring the music to the people.”
Image: US Department of Justice
Want to own a piece of rap history for just $1? Digital art collective PleasrDAO have announced they are selling Wu-Tang Clan‘s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album as $1 NFTs.
The album, which has been “digitised and encrypted” can be purchased at www.thealbum.com, and features new artwork designed by artist Hassan Rahim.
Buyers who purchase the NFT will gain access to a five-minute album sampler created by the record’s co-producer, Cilvaringz. Each sale will also bump up the album’s original 2103 release date by 88 seconds — from its original decryption date of 8 October 2103.
Users will not need cryptocurrency to purchase the NFTs. According to PleasrDAO, proceeds from the sale “will go in part to the original Wu-Tang Clan, the album producer, and performing artists.”
The world's most expensive album is available for $1.
Enter the chamber and secure a copy – 2103 will come faster than you think.https://t.co/QRmGdIrwOy pic.twitter.com/rTCkuH0It3
— ✨ Pleasr (@PleasrDAO) June 13, 2024
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin producers RZA and Cilvaringz said of the project [via Pitchfork]. “Mass replication has fundamentally changed the way we view a piece of recorded music, while digital universality and vanishing physicality have broken our emotional bond with a piece of music as an artwork and a deeply personal treasure.”
“This album sale is more than just about the music,” PleasrDAO representative Matt Matkov added. “It’s about redefining how we think about ownership of music and fan collaboration in the digital age.”
— ✨ Pleasr (@PleasrDAO) June 12, 2024
Once Upon a Time In Shaolin was recorded in secret over six years before it was completed in 2015. Only one copy of the album was made, and it was sold at auction for $2 million to pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli. After Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud in 2018, the US government seized the album as part of a £5.3 million forfeiture order.
In 2021, PleasrDAO bought the album for $4 million and has been working to find ways to share it with the public. To complicate matters, the company recently filed a lawsuit against Shkreli for allegedly copying and distributing the album online without the group’s permission. Pleasr argued that Shkreli had live streamed parts of Once Upon a Time In Shaolin multiple times in violation of the initial sale contract, which stipulated that the album could not be commercially exploited until 2103.
Responding to the news on X, Shkreli blasted: “PleasrFed releasing the album tomorrow supposedly, but I think they’re going to make you pay? Even though I paid them once, they paid them twice, and the album sucks.”
He also urged the public to “wait for the pirated version”, claiming that he’s played Once Upon a Time In Shaolin “500 times publicly” since he got it prior to Pleasr’s purchase.
PleasrFed releasing the album tomorrow supposedly, but I think they’re going to make you pay? Even though I paid them once, they paid them twice, and album sucks. I’ve played it 500 times publicly since I got it (before they bought it) & sent a million copies to friends (again…
— Martin Shkreli (e/acc) (@MartinShkreli) June 13, 2024
