Museum Exhibition to Offer Rare Listening Opportunity for Wu-Tang Clan's 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin'

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in 2015, photo by Luke Fenstemaker and courtesy of Luke Fenstemaker, Pleasr, and the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)

The enigmatic Wu-Tang Clan album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" will be displayed for public listening at the Museum of Old and New Art on the Australian island of Tasmania from June 15 to 24, offering a rare opportunity for fans to experience this exclusive piece of hip-hop history.

Recorded secretly over six years, only one physical copy of the album exists, and it has been heard in its entirety by only a few individuals. The album's display is part of Mona’s "Namedropping" exhibition, which explores rare objects believed to possess mystical properties transcending their material circumstances.

“'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' is more than just an album,” said Jarrod Rawlins, Mona's director of curatorial affairs. “When I was considering status and what a transcendent namedrop could be, I knew I had to include it in this exhibition.”

The album is bound by a legal agreement preventing its commercial exploitation until 2103, though it can be played at private listening parties. Free tickets for curated private listening sessions will be available for a limited number of visitors.

An Album Shrouded in Mystery
Wu-Tang Clan announced in March 2014 that they would produce a single copy of "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin," to be sold to the highest bidder. The album, housed in a hand-carved box with a leather-bound book of lyrics and its backstory, was a protest against the devaluation of music in the digital age, said Wu-Tang member Robert “RZA” Diggs in a 2014 interview with Forbes.

In 2015, Martin Shkreli, the notorious "Pharma Bro," purchased the album for approximately $2 million, making it the world's most expensive music album at the time. However, U.S. federal authorities seized the album when Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy in 2017.

From Shkreli to Cryptocurrency Collective
In 2021, the U.S. Justice Department sold the album to an undisclosed buyer to satisfy part of Shkreli's $7.4 million forfeiture order. Later that year, digital art collective PleasrDAO confirmed they had acquired the album, reportedly for the equivalent of $4 million, using cryptocurrency. PleasrDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization and early adopter of NFT digital art, announced their intent to make the album more accessible to fans.

“This beautiful piece of art, this ultimate protest against middlemen and rent-seekers of musicians and artists, went south by going into the hands of Martin Shkreli, the ultimate internet villain,” said Jamis Johnson, PleasrDAO’s Chief Pleasing Officer, in an interview with Rolling Stone. "We want this to be us bringing this back to the people. We want fans to participate in this album at some level."

Wu-Tang Clan's Legacy
The Wu-Tang Clan, originating in Staten Island, New York, in the 1990s, has a storied history in hip-hop. The group's influence extends beyond music, as they have become cultural icons. Their decision to produce a single-copy album was a bold statement about the value of music as an art form.

As the album makes its way to Mona, fans and art enthusiasts alike have a unique chance to engage with a piece of modern music history, even if only for a brief moment. The limited exhibition underscores the album's status as both a rare artifact and a significant cultural statement.