The sole copy of the Wu-Tang Clan's enigmatic album 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' will finally be heard for the first time at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania.
A decade ago, the Wu-Tang Clan released a sole copy of a CD-only album, kept it in an engraved nickel and silver box, locked it away in a vault, and said it could not be heard by the public until 2103.
The disgraced pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli once owned the album, which was last purchased at auction in 2021 for $4 million.
The digital art collective Pleasr has lent the album to the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart, Tasmania, for their upcoming exhibition, 'Namedropping.' The exhibition explores people's status and how they enhance their own, including using certain desirable objects.
'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' was recorded secretly between 2006 and 2013. The album is known as the most valuable album ever made.
The 31-track album was pressed into a two-CD edition in 2015, and the digital master files were removed.
Furthermore, the band intended to adopt a "400-year-old Renaissance-style approach to music." The album was used to state how music streaming and piracy have diminished the value of music.
Wu-Tang producers Cilvaringz and RZA said they hoped "offering it as a commissioned commodity would inspire and intensify urgent debates about the future of music." It reportedly includes contributions from all remaining members of Wu-Tang Clan, including Cher and 'Game of Thrones' actress Carice Van Houten.
Mona is hosting free, ticketed listening sessions for 'Namedropping' from Saturday to Monday, June 15 to June 24. During these sessions, the public can hear a "curated" 30-minute version of the album, played on a customized Wu-Tang Clan PlayStation 1 in Mona's Frying Pan Studios.
"Every once in a while, an object on this planet possesses mystical properties that transcend its material circumstances," Jarrod Rawlins, Mona's director of curatorial affairs, said.
He added that 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' is more than just an album, so when thinking about status and what a transcendent namedrop could be, he knew he had to get it into this exhibition.
