Wu-Tang Clan's new album will cost 'millions of dollars' — and only one person gets to have it
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Over the past few years, hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan secretly recorded a brand-new double album titled The Wu — Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Curious enough to give it a spin? You'll have to work a little harder than opening iTunes or Spotify. Only one copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin exists — and Wu-Tang isn't planning to make any more.
"We're about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before," explained Wu-Tang member RZA in an interview with Forbes. "We're about to put out a piece of art like nobody else has done in the history of [modern] music. We're making a single-sale collector's item. This is like somebody having the scepter of an Egyptian king."
The group plans to tour Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in museums, galleries, and festivals — London's Tate Modern has reportedly been discussed as a potential venue — where attendees can pay $30 to $50 to listen to the sole copy. When the tour is over, Wu-Tang plans to put the album for sale for a price that will reportedly be "in the millions." They're confident that a company or independent buyer will bite at that price, and it's hard to argue with their logic; after all, Wu-Tang Clan ain't nuthing ta... well, you know the rest.
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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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