Sole Copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ Will Be Played Publicly for the First Time
Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art will host listening sessions for the one-of-one LP.
The sole copy of the Wu-Tang Clan’s seventh studio album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin will be presented to the public for the first time at Tasmania, Australia’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).
Recorded by Wu-Tang over the course of six years in the 2000s, the album only exists as CD – no copies are available digitally for download or streaming. After being stored in a vault for nearly a decade, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was sold via auction in 2013. A legal agreement for the buyer outlined that although it can be played at listening events, the LP can’t be used commercially until 2103.
Disgraced investor and pharmaceutical tycoon Martin Shkreli famously bought the CD in 2018. It was seized by the government upon his arrest and sold to the NFT collective PleasrDAO in 2021, which made the purchase using crypto.
Three years later, PleasrDAO is loaning the CD to MONA between Saturday, June 15 and Monday, June 24 as part of its ongoing “Namedropping” exhibition. Listening sessions will take place at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. daily at the museum’s listening studio.
Tickets for the listening experience will be free, albeit a limited number will be available. Those seeking to hear Once Upon a Time in Shaolin can sign up for MONA’s mailing list for more information on when tickets will be up for grabs.
