The story of Wu-Tang Clan’s ultra-rare Once Upon a Time in Shaolin CD takes another twist.

The story thus far:

On October 8, 2015, Wu-Tang Clan made an artistic statement on the value of music by releasing an album entitled Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. It had been recorded in secret over six years.

Exactly one (1) copy was made of the two-CD set, and then it was stored in a vault in Casablanca, Morocco. It was put up for auction online. The selling price was US$2 million. Terms of the sale stipulated that the purchaser could not commercially exploit the record until 2103, although it was permissible to play it at listening parties.

Problems began when the purchaser was revealed to be the notorious pharma bro Martin Shkreli, a guy who had no problem buying up medications and then jacking the price by thousands of dollars. One vital HIV drug increased by 5,000%.

In 2018, Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud, and the feds ordered his assets to be seized. Among those assents was that one copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. The CD then became property of the US Government. In July 2021, it was sold to a corporation for US$2 million to help cover Shkreli’s debt. It was then resold to a group of NFT collectors (remember them?) called PleasrDAO for US$4 million. They then started selling pieces of the album as NFTs. It has since been exhibited several times in places like Tasmania.

Now Shkreli is back in the picture. He’s suing Wu-Tang’s RZA, claiming that he sold 150% of copyrights, thereby creating a breach of contract. In this new legal filing, he has “suffered and continues to suffer direct and consequential damages.”

Where does this go? Who knows. This saga doesn’t seem to have an end.