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| Once Upon a Time in Shaolin | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 8, 2015 | |||
| Recorded | 2007–2013 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 110:12 | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Wu-Tang Clan chronology | ||||
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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. The only copy was purchased directly from the group in 2015 for $2 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 at the Royal Mansour Hotel in Casablanca, Morocco, then sold through 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, who paid a reported $2 million. 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 the non-fungible token collectors PleasrDAO for $4 million to cover Shkreli's debts; PleasrDAO said they hoped to make it more widely accessible.
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.