RZA Tried To Buy Wu-Tang Clan Album Back From Martin Shkreli

RZA wants to get “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” back in the family.

The Wu-Tang Clan co-founder sold the single copy of the album to convicted felon and former pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli in 2015.

The disgraced “Pharma Bro,” who last month was sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding investors, listed the record on eBay in September. Months later, the Department of Justice ordered him to forfeit the album, although his lawyers are appealing the ruling.

"I've actually tried to get it back, but the paperwork and the contract stops me from getting it back,” RZA told Rolling Stone.

“When (Shkreli) put it on eBay, the first thing I did was call my lawyer, and I was like, 'Yo, let's go.' And they said, 'All right, check with your contract.' And it's no, you can't do it. Ain't that a b---h?”

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is a double album by the New York hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan which was limited to a single copy sold in 2015. It is the most expensive single album ever sold. One double-CD of the album, which was recorded in secret over six years, was pressed in 2014 and stored in a secured vault at the Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco. The album was auctioned to the highest bidder through auction house Paddle8 in 2015, and it was subsequently revealed the winning bid of $2 million was placed by American businessman Martin Shkreli. A legal agreement with the purchaser states the album cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, although it can be released for free or played during listening parties. It has since been argued by some artists involved with the project that producer Cilvaringz misrepresented to members of the group what they were contributing their work to and that it is not a true Wu-Tang Clan album, but rather a con job.

Shkreli shared the intro and part of two tracks after Donald Trump was elected president, after threatening to destroy the album. In 2017 Shkreli allegedly livestreamed a portion of the album to YouTube after a verdict was reached in a criminal case against him. On September 6, 2017, Shkreli placed the album up for auction via eBay; it received 343 bids, with a winning bid of $1,025,100 USD.

However, the sale was never completed, and in March 2018, the album was ordered by a judge to be forfeited as a result of the seizure of Shkreli's assets following his conviction for securities fraud.

SOURCE