Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ is now an NFT

nme.com:

‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ has now been turned into an NFT.The world’s rarest and most expensive album was their seventh studio effort, for which they released only one physical copy in 2014.Recorded in secret between 2006 and 2013, the project became the most valuable album ever made, and reportedly features contributions from all surviving members of Wu-Tang Clan, as well as two guest appearances from Cher.

The unique copy was housed in a silver, jewel-encrusted box, alongside leather-bound liner notes and a wax seal of the Wu-Tang Clan logo.No digital downloads or streams have ever been made available, and after pressing the CD, the Clan stored it in a high-security vault at the Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco.

It later went to auction the following year, however came with the conditions that the purchaser could not commercially exploit the music until the year 2103.The 88-year restriction was chosen as there were eight original members of Wu-Tang clan, because the numbers of the year 2015 added to eight, and because the number rotated made the symbol for infinity.The agreement also stipulated that the album could be played at listening parties, and a 13-minute medley was later played to only around 50 art experts, fans and prospective buyers at a one-off event at New York’s MoMa in 2015.‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ later went to auction, and was bought by disgraced pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli for $2million (£1.56m).

The entrepreneur became notorious when he hiked the price of a drug used by cancer and Aids patients by 50-fold overnight.Shkreli played clips of the album during a livestream in 2017 despite the restrictions, then tried to sell the album on eBay – and received an offer for.