The story behind Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon A Time In Shaolin gets weirder and weirder each day. By this point, you probably know that only one copy of the album has been made, and while it will be available for sale, no one has scooped it up yet (though a rumor that Skrillex purchased the album for $5 Million did circulate briefly).
An online auction for the sole copy of the album has now been set up, and with it, a new rule for the purchaser has been laid out. According to Cilvaringz, who is credited alongside RZA as producer of the 31 track LP, the owner of the album will not be allowed to share the piece, at least for the rest of their living days. “After 88 years the copyright, which includes public and commercial rights, automatically transfers to the owner of the work,” said the beatmaker. “However, it will still be his or her choice at that [point] to release it or not release it.”
So basically, if you're reading this sentence as a mortal human, and you don't have millions of dollars to drop on a b-sides collection, you're probably not going to hear this album. As for the seemingly arbitrary number, 8 represents both the original member count, and the sum of the digits in '2015'.
RZA elaborated on the strict copyright applied to the album in a Q&A on the auction site. “When you buy a painting or a sculpture, you’re buying that piece rather than the right to replicate it,” he explained. “Owning a Picasso doesn’t mean you can sell prints or reproductions, but that you’re the sole owner of a unique original. And that’s what Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is. It’s a unique original rather than a master copy of an album.”
If you're somehow in the market to make a bid on the album, you can head here to participate in the auction. Otherwise, your children can look forward to some new Wu-Tang to mob to in their nursing home.
[via]