Wu-Tang Clan’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” to Sell for $1 NFT

The saga of Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind album seems to have reached its (inevitable?) conclusion: it can now be purchased cheaply as an NFT.

RZA and his collaborator Cilvaringz created Once Upon A Time In Shaolin with the intention of only releasing a single physical copy, which will be sold to the highest bidder with an agreement not to release the music until 2103. This buyer s turned out to be the disgraced pharmaceutical brother Martin. Shkreli, who paid $2 million for the case but then had to give it up after his conviction for securities fraud. The American government at auction the record to the cryptocurrency collective PleasrDAO for $4.75 million in 2021, and they are play music in public this month for the first time at listening events in Tasmania. This week PleasrDAO sued Shkreli for allegedly making copies of the album and distributing the music publicly, in violation of his purchase agreement. Now, two days before the first listening event, PleasrDAO has released NFT copies of the album for sale.

“The most expensive album in the world is available for 1 dollar,” the collective wrote on social networks. “Go into the room and get a copy – 2103 will arrive faster than you think.” Their tweet is accompanied by a three-minute trailer telling the album’s story, including Shkreli’s stuff, and reinforcing its mythos. It also refers to thealbum.com, where you can buy the album (in dollars or Ethereum) in different quantities. The more copies you buy, the sooner we “get to 2103”. A follow-up tweet explains:

HOW IT WORKS

> The album is encrypted and each purchase advances the decryption date of 2103 by 88 seconds.
> Copies are exchangeable under the name $ALBUM.
> Purchase unlocks a new album sample created by Cilvaringz exclusively for this drop.

There is also this note from RZA and Civalringz:

“The music industry is in crisis… we hope to inspire and intensify urgent debates about the future of music. » – Cilvaringz & RZA

10 years ago, the Wu-Tang Clan released an album like no other. In a statement against piracy and devaluation of music, they created a single copy of “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin”, seeking to restore the value of music.

The plan worked. It became the most expensive album ever sold twice. However, cost limited listening to a single owner until 2103.

In 2024, there’s a bold new plan: Pleasr has digitized and encrypted the album, allowing anyone to become an owner for $1. Each purchase advances the album’s original release date by 88 seconds.

We ask a simple question: are we ready to pay artists in the digital age?

The saga continues, assholes.

If I understand correctly, they are trying to turn copies of the album into a form of cryptocurrency? And once they have sold enough copies to make this currency operational, they will decrypt the files? This is all running through my head, but if you understand this, please explain it in the comments.

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