Recorded as a single physical copy to protest digital streaming economics, the Wu-Tang Clan’s unique album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin has faced near-destruction, federal seizure and strict ownership restrictions since its creation in 2014, per vice.com.
The rap group produced the album and deleted all master files to mirror the exclusivity of high art, treating the release like a Renaissance-style commission.
In 2015, after a select audience previewed portions of the record in Queens, New York, pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli purchased the sole copy for $2 million.
Shkreli later expressed a desire to destroy or hide the record, and attempted to sell it prior to his arrest on unrelated fraud charges in 2017. Following his imprisonment, a federal court seized the asset, preventing group member RZA from repurchasing it due to prior contractual limitations.
The digital art collective PleasrDAO subsequently acquired the album, restricting its public exposure to curated listening sessions and art exhibitions. While limited excerpts have been played for museum audiences under strict security, the complete work remains largely unheard in its entirety.
Released to challenge the diminishing financial returns of the digital streaming era, the project stands as a singular experiment in treating recorded music as a rare, physical fine-art commodity.