page_title: Once Upon a Time in Shaolin
section_title: Single-album concept
hierarchical_section_title: Once Upon a Time in Shaolin / Single-album concept
caption_attribution_description: English: The elegant casing for Wu-Tang Clan's single copy album 'Once Upon A Time In Shaolin'.
context_page_description: Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is the seventh studio album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. It was limited to a single copy sold in 2015, and is the most expensive individual album ever sold.
  The album was recorded in secret over six years. A single two-CD copy was pressed in 2014 and stored in a secured vault at the Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco, then auctioned through auction house Paddle8 in 2015. A legal agreement with the purchaser stipulated that the album cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, although it can be released free or played during listening parties.
  The winning bidder was American CEO Martin Shkreli. In March 2018, following Shkreli's conviction for securities fraud, a federal court seized assets belonging to him, including Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
context_section_description: Inspired by the success of Nipsey Hussle's mixtape Crenshaw, limited-edition copies of which sold for $100, Cilvaringz and co-producer RZA decided to create Once Upon A Time In Shaolin as an art object. Feeling the value of music had been cheapened by streaming and online piracy, they hoped to return music to the value of fine art. They wrote on their website:
  The music industry is in crisis. The intrinsic value of music has been reduced to zero. Contemporary art is worth millions by virtue of its exclusivity ... By adopting a 400 year old Renaissance-style approach to music, offering it as a commissioned commodity and allowing it to take a similar trajectory from creation to exhibition to sale ... we hope to inspire and intensify urgent debates about the future of music.
  The album was held in a silver jewel-encrusted box with a wax Wu-Tang Clan seal and leather-bound liner notes. On March 3, 2015, it was detained at JFK Airport for three hours while border control determined the contents of its box. In March 2015, Wu-Tang Clan exhibited the album for the only time, to a crowd of about 150 art collectors, dealers, and critics in Queens, New York. Attendees were searched for recording devices. About 13 minutes of the album were played to the audience.
caption: The ornate casing for the album
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