FROM CHAMBERS TO CHAPTERS A talk with Cyrus Bozorgmehr, the advisor of Wu-Tang’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ album and his new tell-all book about what the public didn’t see … Words: DANI DEAHL Pics: FLATIRON BOOKS, PADDLE8
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t’s been almost two years since Wu-Tang Clan sold their single copy of album ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ to infamous “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, a saga that dominated headlines and at times, seemed so outrageous that it was hard to believe it actually happened. To recap, here’s what the public saw: Wu-Tang Clan announced the album, said it would not be distributed, that they would only create a single copy, and it would be sold to the highest bidder, with the stipulation that it could not be sold to a corporation, and there would be an 88-year embargo on releasing any of the music commercially. The winning bid of $2,000,000 wound up coming from Martin Shkreli, a young pharmaceutical executive who had just made headlines as the public’s villain du jour, thanks to his company’s decision to jack up the price of an antimalarial drug called Daraprim by 5,000% overnight. It was one hell of a true story.
Chasing the idea of how to reattach value to music, Cilvaringz conducted his own trial, which he called the “bundle experiments.” He created four limited edition digital packs of unreleased music, setting price points at $50, $100, $150 and $200. The two cheaper packs leaked right away. The two more expensive ones to this day never have. This connection between economic and
His role: to act as an overseer in order to help materialize the concept, communicate it and bring it toward completion. And the work started almost immediately. “It was interesting to see the debate happening without us contributing much to it. It created drama around an album release,” he says. And this debate happened from all sides. “What we saw in the hip-hop
The conceptual understanding from the inner art circle turned out to only be one of their problems. “This was three guys without any lawyers or a PR firm just winging it, really,” says Bozorgmehr. “We figured things as we went. We found we couldn’t sell it at auction because there was no preexisting legal framework. To some, it also looked like a gimmick, and a stunt. There were concerns. Was there going to be some hideously embarrassing revelation? Could we leak the album after the sale? There was just a complete lack of trust from institutions.”
Now, the even more captivating details behind the album have been released in a new book called Once Upon A Time In Shaolin: The Untold Story Of Wu-Tang Clan’s Million-Dollar Secret Album, The Devaluation Of Music, And America’s New Public Enemy No. 1. Written by the album’s adviser, Cyrus Bozorgmehr, the book takes a deep dive into the weird, wild, and at times, disastrous events behind what is the most expensive musical work ever sold. As Bozorgmehr recounts, extended Clan member Cilvaringz originally masterminded the project, getting the greenlight from RZA to open-endedly produce an album that included the whole Clan and would be an opus to their original, classic sound. As it neared completion, the question of what could be done to set it apart weighed heavily on their minds. In the six years it took to create the album, the music industry had rapidly changed. “There was this shift to democratization,” says Bozorgmehr, “of not needing any corporation, this utopian ideal to start with. And then it ate itself.” So much had changed during that short timeframe; music sales dove and streaming platforms were still trying to find identity and footing. Bozorgmehr references a sobering statistic from 2011: that year, 73.9% of all digital music tracks sold fewer than 10 copies.
It wasn’t a solution, but it was an exercise in translating hip-hop, and music to the fine art world. As Bozorgmehr, Cilvaringz and RZA found out, these were bridges that hadn’t necessarily been crossed. And not everyone understood. The Tate Modern museum seemed puzzled by their request to display the album before sale, saying in an email “there is an interesting crossover with contemporary art in terms of their political/collective approach.” Sotheby’s, who they had considered as the auction house for the album, wanted to classify it as music “memorabilia” instead of fine art. A representative from Christie’s, another auction house, said, “This is an exciting concept that could resonate well with devoted collectors of pop culture.” Trying to convince the upper echelon of the art world that a hip-hop album could be deemed fine art was an unexpected mountain to overcome.
The album sale wound up being facilitated by online auction platform Paddle8, and when the potential buyer was found, even more legal hurdles were discovered. Nothing like this had ever been done before, and documentation had to be devised for what was essentially iron-clad piracy prevention. Who would own the copyright? How would damages be assessed if the audio were leaked? How would the producers prove full ownership? perceived value convinced Cilvaringz to plow forward with an idea he’d had for years: a single-copy album. It would not only be the ultimate middle finger to the current state of disposable music, it would challenge biases about art and the relationship between musician and fan. There was almost nothing to compare it to, so Bozorgmehr was brought on shortly thereafter on behalf of the album’s investor.
community was a lot of praise from artists,” Bozorgmehr notes. “But then there were fans going ‘fuck you, how dare you take it away’. That’s a very valid and fair point, but it doesn’t mean they own you. It doesn’t mean you can’t try anything different. It’s a very dangerous dichotomy to explain to a fan base. Extremes are always very interesting artistic forms. None of this was supposed to be a solution.”
Though the buyer did follow through, with the ensuing chaos once everyone realized who Shkreli was, what was perhaps even more mental was Plan B. It had dawned on everyone that there needed to be a contingency plan if no one stepped forth to buy the album. If unsold, the entire meaning of the album would be lost, so Cilvaringz devised an elaborate, batshit crazy, yet somehow rational plan in case that happened.
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RZA & CILVARINGZ
They would invent a fictional buyer, who would put up millions and once the album was purchased, would challenge the restriction clauses. This imaginary hero would purport he could bring the album to the masses, through a loophole found in the contract. The loophole? Noncommercialization was set in stone, but there were merchandizing rights. 36,000 packaged, individually numbered CDs would be put on sale for $100 each, with the CDs being blank in order to maintain they were merch. If all 36,000 sold within a certain time frame, the CDs would be shipped to those who purchased it, along with an individualized code that could be redeemed on a website for the audio. That audio could then be downloaded and burned to the CD, creating a complete album package. But, it doesn’t end there.
pulled in the history of music… was convincing the world this album would disappear… and like that… it is done.”
Wu-Tang would then have to, for show, denounce the fictional hero in the press, pretending to instigate a lawsuit. Afterward, once a period of time had passed for the drama to die down, they’d send five journalists a leather portfolio with information to access a video online, which would explain a “fake” sale was planned all along. It would end with, “the greatest trick ever
Regardless of why Shkreli wanted it, having his name now attached brought drama of its own. The backlash was immediate, and chaotic, intensified by Shkreli delivering increasingly bizarre and threatening statements, including one interview with HipHopDX where he said, “If Ghostface can make people disappear, what the fuck do you think I can do? I’ll fucking snap
Of course, Plan B was never needed, as Shkreli’s purchase was accepted, though his motivation remained a mystery. “In that office when we did the deal we were prepared to do this thing where you could listen to the first, middle and last 30 seconds of songs,” says Bozorgmehr. “He literally listened to about three seconds, and that was it! It was like, ‘Okay, there is music on there of some description, I’m fine with it’. That’s even complex because by putting all these barriers in place, there’s the assumption that the person who gets the music must really want it. I’m not even sure he totally knows why he bought it.”
the CD on fucking TV and not even listen to it if that’s what he fucking wants.” “From what he’s told us, he’s definitely listened to the whole of one of the CDs,” Bozorgmehr laughs. “He weirdly fancied himself as kind of a hip-hop dude. When he first turned up he was talking about his crew… symbolic things lifted from hip-hop culture. I think the beef element is something he had oversubscribed to. He thought it was great and that it was a bit of fun. Once he’d been arrested he felt safer because the authorities were involved and he was saying things he simply didn’t understand the gravity of. It was one of those things you just knew could end really fucking badly. He didn’t respond to normal, logical arguments. He relishes this villain character.” Now, with considerable time separated between the sale, the drama, and the opportunity to reflect on how it all went down, DJ Mag asks Bozorgmehr if they would do it again, knowing the outcome. “From a personal level, it was just a really crazy ride. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I think in terms of the wider validity of the project…
it took me a long time to get to the point where I thought Martin buying it was okay because it provided this dystopian picture of what happens if we all as a society don’t support music. I do think if it had just been bought by an art collector it would have made the point but it would have been a really boring end.” And as for lessons learned? “In terms of marketing your music as an artist, the storytelling part of how that music is acquired is actually pretty fucking important. It’s this idea of, instead of just sticking it online and hoping for the best, what can you do that’s original and interesting and would grab attention to tell a story about why people should go out of their way to get your music? But there’s the paradox. It’s not supposed to be about the marketing, it’s supposed to be about the music. You might not be heard without the marketing, but you don’t want the marketing to define your music. Find your music’s identity, then think about how do you expand upon that to include how it’s listened to and how people get to hear it.”
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