We’ve been hearing words on the wind of a new Wu-Tang Clan album for quite a while now, but things have just gotten weird as hell: Not only do the Wu-Tang reportedly have a new album completed, but they only made one copy – and you’re not allowed to hear it. What’s even stranger is that it’s not the anticipated A Better Tomorrow the group is said to have been working on.
The 31-track, 128-minute album was reportedly recorded in the country of Morocco, according a report by Forbes staff writer and author Zack O’Malley Greenburg. Produced by longtime affiliate Cilvaringz, The Wu-Once Upon A Time In Shaolin is accompanied by artwork and packaging designed by esteemed artist Yahya, who has a long history of royal commissions.
“Somewhere on the outskirts of Marrakech, Morocco, inside a vault housed beneath the shadow of the Atlas Mountains, there sits an engraved silver-and-nickel box with the potential to spawn a shift in the way music is consumed and monetized,” O’Malley-Greenburg explains.”
“We’re about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before,” RZA explained, stepping up as the first Wu-Tang member to speak on record about Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. “We’re about to put out a piece of art like nobody else has done in the history of music. We’re making a single-sale collector’s item. This is like somebody having the scepter of an Egyptian king.”
So who gets to hear this mythological record? “The plan is to first take Once Upon A Time In Shaolin on a “tour” through museums, galleries, festivals and the like,” O’Malley-Greenburg continues. “Just like a high-profile exhibit at a major institution, there will be a cost to attend, likely in the $30-$50 range.”
In order for the plans for the album to be fully realized, the music must not ever leak online. “One leak of this thing nullifies the entire concept,” says Cilvaringz.
Good thing everybody on the internet behaves themselves, eh?
