Somewhere in Marrakech, in a vault below the Atlas Mountains, lies an engraved silver box designed by British-Moroccan artist Yahya. Soon that case will contain the only copy of Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. So why just one?
In 2013, Beyoncé dropped her visual album out of nowhere; Daft Punk embarked on the world's longest ad campaign for Random Access Memories and Boards Of Canada encrypted message boards with ways to listen to their latest album Tomorrow's Harvest. But hip-hop's legendary stalwarts Wu-Tang Clan have devised a beautifully simple concept for their new double-album The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. There will only be one copy made. And it'll probably cost millions.
Somewhere in Marrakech, in a vault below the Atlas Mountains, lies an engraved silver box designed by British-Moroccan artist Yahya. Soon that case will contain the only copy of Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. So why just one?
In an exclusive interview with Forbes, Wu member RZA says, "We’re about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before. 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."
According to RZA and album producer Tarik "Cilvaringz" Azzougarh, the plan is to take Once Upon A Time In Shaolin through museums and galleries, charging entrants regular exhibition prices, complete with tight security, door searches for recording devices and a policy of headphones–only listening. As Cilvaringz notes: "One leak of this nullifies the entire concept".
Once the album has finished its "tour", it will be auctioned to the highest bidder to do whatever they want with it. That bidder could be brands, record companies, or most excitingly, a single person or guerilla group with a lot of cash who will never let the album see the light of day.
The Wu are hoping to reclaim the idea of music as art and the release concept opens a deeply interesting conversation about the value of music, or indeed, about the kind of value we place on physical representations of music. In today's world, there's actually no need for more than one physical copy (if there's a need for a physical copy at all). As we listen to more and more music, are we beginning to consume it, rather than appreciate it?
"The idea that music is art has been something we advocated for years," says RZA. "And yet its doesn’t receive the same treatment as art in the sense of the value of what it is, especially nowadays when it’s been devalued and diminished to almost the point that it has to be given away for free."
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There are some fans you just don’t want to piss off. Beliebers, for a start. They never fail to jump to JB’s defense, and they’re ready to issue death threats to anyone standing within ten feet of him. Then you’ve got the subculture fans; people who hide in their bedrooms laughing at everyone else until they’re poked with a cattle prod, prompting them to unleash the kind of fury normal people reserve for pedophiles or Donald Trump. But hip-hop heads can be the most butthurt of all, desecrating anyone who speaks ill of DOOM, or worse, still forgets to write his name in all caps. Lots of rap groups have insane fanbases, but none of them are as insane as the Wu-Tang Clan.
You’d think that the Wu would have known better than to do a number on their legion of devoted fans. Except they did, deciding to release just a single copy of their long-shelved silver and nickel-engraved double album The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin for a multimillion dollar sum in an auction. The album will do the rounds at galleries and festivals before it’s sold—where swindled visitors can listen to the record for $50 a pop. To counter this marketing ploy, Wu fans got together and set up a Kickstarter campaign to raise money, hoping to win the bid for the album and spread it around in the name of cultural democracy instead of letting it sit in the pocket of one fat cat.
Chris Everhart—one of the craziest Wu-Tang fans—has taken matters into his own hands with an alternate crowdfunding approach. He has gone to the extreme length of setting up his own Kickstarter project in an attempt to raise $6 million to purchase and then elaborately destroy Wu’s new album in an “artistic and grandiose manner”. The official Wu kickstarter ended yesterday on around $15,400 with nearly 700 backers. Everhart’s isn’t far behind, having raised over $10,400 with only 25 backers, but his has another 48 days remaining. We caught up with him to find out why a fan would raise money to buy this expensive album just to destroy it.
Nigel Cox shoots “The Best Watch for Every Occasion” for Men’s Fitness
Tudor Heritage Advisor. Photo by Nigel Cox for Men’s Fitness.
For a Men’s Fitness feature on “The Best Watch for Every Occasion,” Nigel Cox photographed luxury watches, including the Movado Red Label Automatic Black Dial Stainless Steel, the Bulova Accutron II Astronaut, the Tudor Heritage Advisor, the Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 36 Flyback Automatic Chronograph, and the Tissot Navigator Limited Edition Automatic COSC.
Tissot Navigator Limited Edition Automatic COSC. Photo by Nigel Cox for Men’s Fitness.
Launch of new 'Bentley For Men Absolute' Fragrance
The luxurious Oud in Bentley for Men Absolute fulfils the promise of the word “absolute”. This resin, which has a beguiling and mysterious note, comes from evergreen trees native to Asia. It is one of the most expensive raw materials in the world, and highly valued by international perfume connoisseurs.
The top note of Bentley for Men Absolute surprises, with a spicy cocktail of fresh ginger and pink peppercorns, and a hint of mystical frankincense. The fragrance announces its uncompromising extravagance within just a few seconds.
After several minutes, the heart note unfolds, with elegant woody aromas of papyrus, Atlas cedar and sandalwood – extremely powerful and masculine. The base note includes the most seductive essences: Oud, surrounded by sensuous ambergris and elegant harmonies of moss.
We arrive at the airport and are greeted by a hostess for the airline. After some confusion and over-polite gesticulation, we glean that our tickets (which cost us some miles and about $100) are in first class and that the hostess has been waiting for our arrival. This is a first. After we’re escorted to the first-class lounge and arrange what time we’d like to board the plane (there’s a choice?), we enjoy unlimited cheese, fruit, and fizzy beverages and revel in what it must have been like to be Don Draper—or anyone for that matter—in the heyday of air travel. Soon, the hostess returns and escorts us on to the plane, past the line of passengers who are queued up and now eyeing us suspiciously. We trade glances wondering what the heck is going on? Moments later, as we board, it becomes clear that this special treatment is due to the fact that we are the only passengers in first class.
Like two giddy 18-year-old American boys who have arrived in Montreal and can drink without being carded, we quickly gulp down Baileys on ice, we luxuriate in our foldout pods, stretching our legs and our minds over what’s to come—in Brazil and beyond.
We take off, drinking in the awe-inspiring view afforded by the somewhat terrifying but fascinating forward-facing camera and the rarity of both having what feels like an entire plane to ourselves and a birds-eye view of South America.
