MONA presents Wu-Tang Clan’s infamous Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album
Some lucky music-lovers will be able to listen to one of the world’s rarest pieces of music in this exclusive listening event at MONA.
It’s one of the world’s rarest pieces of music heard by only a few around the globe but now some lucky Australians will be able to listen to Wu-Tang Clan’s famous Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album for the first time.
The Museum of Old and New Art has secured the fabled album as part of upcoming exhibition, Namedropping
US hip-hop group, Wu-Tang Clan, recorded Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in secret over six years, completing the works and putting it up for auction in 2015.
But what made this album the most highly sought after piece of music was the fact it was pressed onto a two-CD copy with the digital master files deleted.
Mona Curatorial Affairs director Jarrod Rawlins said the mysterious album was the perfect addition to the exhibition which poses the question to the visitor about how they can delve deeper.
“Every once in a while, an object on this planet possesses mystical properties that transcend its material circumstances,” Mr Rawlins said.
“Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is more than just an album, so when I was thinking about status, and what a transcendent name-drop could be, I knew I had to get it into this exhibition.”
The beloved hip-hop group also made sure their seventh album cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, as its ownership is bound by a legal agreement with any purchaser.
But luckily for those hoping to hear what’s on the album, the legal agreement also stipulated it can be played at private listening parties.
Previously it’s only heard before by a handful of people around the world but now Mona visitors will be able to experience a curated thirty minute mix from the album, played from a personalised Wu-Tang PlayStation 1 in Mona’s own recording studio — Frying Pan.
The album’s history has gone beyond the legend of Wu-Tang Clan and hit the cultural Zeitgeist after it was sold by the US Department of Justice for $4 million to digital art collector, Pleasr, in 2021.
The forced sale came after its previous owner, Martin Shkreli, was ordered to forfeit the album he bought in 2015 for $2 million after he was sentenced to seven years in jail defrauding investors for about $7.4 million in 2018.
Shkreli was nicknamed ‘Pharma bro’ after he increased the price of a lifesaving HIV drug, Daraprim, from US$13.50 to US$750 per pill.
Excerpts of the album have been heard online after Shkreli held up his promise to release the album if Donald Trump won the 2016 US presidential election.
He also tried and failed to sellOnce Upon a Time in Shaolinalbum on eBay before his arrest.
In a statement, Pleasr said it was an honour partner with Mona to support Wu-Tang Clan member RZA’s vision for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
“Ten years ago, the Wu-Tang Clan had a bold vision to make a single copy album as a work of fine art,” Pleasr stated.
“To ‘put it in an art gallery … make music become a living piece like a Mona Lisa or a sceptre from Egypt’.
“With this single work of art, the Wu-Tang Clan’s intention was to redefine the meaning of music ownership and value in a world of digital streaming and commodification of music.”
The album’s appearance at Mona is the first time it has been loaned to a museum since the original sale in 2015.
Namedropping the Wu-Tang Clan will run twice daily, Friday-Monday, between 15-24 June 2024.
Mona will release a limited number of free tickets for each event.
Visitors can also see the album on display alongside the public debut of original handwritten lyrics to David Bowie’s ‘Starman’, showing edits and spelling corrections.
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