The only existing copy of the Wu-Tang Clan’s album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin has finally sold to an unknown buyer for a price in the millions.
The deal was brokered by auction house Paddle8 who would only divulge that the new owner is a private American collector. And the big ticket item comes with an equally big stipulation: the buyer is forbidden from releasing the album commercially for 88 years.
Wu-Tang member RZA said that a portion of the sale will go to charity, and added: “From the beginning, we hoped that this concept would inspire debate and new ways of seeing creativity. Both of those goals have been achieved, and the ideas continue to evolve.”
For a luxury item, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin at least comes with plenty of fancy trappings. According to Paddle8, the album is “presented in a hand-carved nickel-silver box and accompanied by a 174-page manuscript containing lyrics, credits, and anecdotes on the production of each song, printed on gilded Fedrigoni Marina parchment and encased in leather by a master bookbinder.”
More importantly, the work contains 31 songs, skits, and stories. Paddle8 even refers to it not as an album but a “128 minute-long aural screenplay.” It’s almost guaranteed you’ll never hear it in your lifetime but earlier this year, New York’s Museum of Modern Art held an exclusive listening session of the album.
According to the auction house, the million dollar sale of Once Upon A Time In Shaolin makes it the most expensive single album ever sold. The previous record was held by Jack White, who spent $300,000 on a rare acetate recording of Elvis’s first song.
For slightly more accessible music, check out our upcoming line-up of artists on the Live Nation channel on Yahoo right here.
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