While loyal Wu-Tang Clan fans patiently wait for the release of A Better Tomorrow this summer, they'll also be happy to know that the East Coast crew have another secret album in the works. But there's a catch: Only one copy will be released, and its price tag will likely be "in the millions."
Partly inspired by Jay Z's deal with Samsung for Magna Carta Holy Grail and Nipsey Hussle's $100 mixtape Crenshaw, Wu-Tang seem to be offering up their own set of new rules for their album The Wu - Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. However, as de facto leader RZA explains it, their plan takes art to the next level. “We’re about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before,” RZA tells Forbes. “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.”
In line with this visual illustration from RZA, the album will be encased in an engraved silver-and-nickel box (see photo above). Wu-Tang Clan reportedly plan to take the album on a "tour" first through museums, galleries, and art festivals. There will be a fee to attend these events, likely in the $30-$50 range. They then will put Once Upon A Time In Shaolin up for auction, where they expect it to sell "in the millions."
“The idea that music is art has been something we advocated for years,” RZA adds. “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.”
In terms of the specifics of the project, RZA confirms all original Wu-Tang Clan members will be involved on Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. It will also feature production from Tarik “Cilvaringz” Azzougarh, a Moroccan-based artist who is a part of Wu-Tang’s extended family. According to the project's website, guests include Redman, Bonnie Jo Mason, and FC Barcelona soccer players. Finally, it will be a double-disc album, clocking in at 128 minutes over 31 songs.
[via Forbes]
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