It's definitely one of the world's most expensive albums ever sold in history. Wu Tang's 2013 material "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" which was produced with only one copy, has been sold to an American buyer for more than $5 million, as confirmed by the online auction house Paddle8.
Reports say that while the album's official selling price in "millions" has not been stated, the offer reportedly exceeds the given amount, which happens to be the album's first bidding price earlier this year.
The "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" has been recognized as the world's rarest album, adding that the Wu-Tang clan did their best to make sure that there are no duplicates of the album's original copy.
The popular New York hip-hop group made an interesting move to market the album and have produced the material not just as a consumable music like the usual albums an artist could produce, but as a remarkable work of art one can keep.
Since its release in 2013, "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" was kept in a vault at the Royal Mansour hotel situated in Marrakech, Morocco.
RZA, the founding leader of the Wu Tang clan, said "The Wu Tang Clan have always been driven by innovation, and this marks another moment in musical history. We hope that the impact of this historical sale will echo through the ages and maybe remind us every now and then that music is a great art form that should be valued as such."
"Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" reportedly features a series of contributions from the clan's all surviving members, with songs recorded between the year 2006 and 2013.
Besides that, reports say that a partnership with the MoMA PS1 art gallery had Wu Tang as the main host of one listening event, where they had played a 13-minute combination of the album tracks in front of a crowd comprising various art experts, prospective buyers and Wu Tang fans.
"If the full, 128-minute Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is as solid as the 13 minutes heard, it could be the group's most popular album since 1997." as quoted by the RollingStone.
Wu Tang, a hip-hop group based from New York City, is originally composed of members RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa and Ol'Dirty Bastard.
In early 2000s, the group was hailed as one of the world's most influential groups for the last 10 years and was placed at the no. 1 spot for being known as the greatest hip-hop group in the history.
