The Wu-Tang Clan's decision to only sell one copy of their ultra-rare album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, took a bizarre turn when Martin Shkreli bought it for $2 million. Now that Shkreli is in jail, the album is in the hands of the U.S. government, and RZA recently revealed that at one point he tried to buy the album back himself. He wasn't always happy with the outcome of the experiment, but he does say he thinks the whole thing could be turned into a movie.
The story of the Wu-Tang Clan's ultra-rare Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album keeps taking bizarre turns.
Finally free from the clutches of Martin Shkreli's cold hands, the only copy of the album is now the property of the United States government, and its fate is at the whim of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. According to documents obtained by The Blast, the album is also the subject of a new lawsuit.
A photographer named Warren Patterson claims that he shot photos of the album's infamous silver case back in 2013 and 2014, but he was never paid for his work. One of his photos was used for an album cover, but Patterson alleges that he had no idea that was the plan—nor did he give the group permission to do so. He says he spent over 80 hours shooting the photos.
The lawsuit states, "the infringing copies of the Plaintiff’s works [were] delivered to a law office in New York County, New York by mail or courier service to be picked up by a purchaser named Martin Shkreli."
The Blast reports that Patterson's copyright infringement lawsuit seeks over $1 million in damages and Wu-Tang's Method Man, RZA, Raekwon, Cappadonna, Ghostface Killah, GZA, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, and U-God are all named as defendants.
Wu-Tang representatives have not commented on the lawsuit outside of a rep for Method Man who told The Blast, "Method Man did not select nor authorize the photography used on the Wu-Tang album."
This is the second time in the past few weeks that the group has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit. In March, members of the Diplomats (the '60s soul group, not Dipset) filed a lawsuit against the Wu-Tang Clan over their 2017 song “People Say,” claiming that the melody was lifted from their 1969 record "I've Got the Kind of Love." Sounds like it's about to be a busy summer for Wu-Tang's legal team.
At the top of March, notorious "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in prison for various securities-fraud-related charges. Shkreli will also be forced to forfeit more than $7.3 million in assets as part of U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto's ruling, which includes his $2 million Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, in addition to Lil Wayne's Tha Carter V to cover the fine.
According to the Department of Justice's filing earlier this week, the U.S. government "hereby give[s] notice of its intent to dispose of the forfeited property in such manner as the United States Attorney General may direct." The public has 60 days from filing day to "claim interest" in the property before being discarded.
Forbes reached out to a government representative who stated the albums' fate will, in turn, be decided "directly by the civil division of the U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York." With that said, Justice Department head Jeff Sessions will remain "indirectly responsible" for the forfeiture case decision.
The infamous pharma bro just asked to be placed in a minimum-security "camp" facility. Here's what current federal prisoners think he has coming.
Right before he was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison last Friday, “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli broke into tears. Ultimately, the man convicted on three counts of fraud did not get the maximum possible sentence he faced—much less the 21 years I endured in the feds for drug crimes. Even so, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will be Shkreli's home for the foreseeable future, and the New York Daily News reported Wednesday he's hoping to land in a minimum-security "camp" facility in Pennsylvania best known for a salmonella outbreak.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Shkreli was today (March 9) given a seven-year sentence for “defrauding investors in two failed hedge funds.” The formal charge is securities fraud and the conviction was handed down by U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto. According to the report, Shkreli cried in court and told the judge “I want the people who came here today to support me to understand one thing, the only person to blame for me being here today is me. I took down Martin Shkreli.” His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, reportedly told Judge Matsumoto “that he sometimes wants to hug Shkreli and sometimes wants to punch him in the face.”
However, as the judge made clear, Shkreli’s sentencing had nothing to do with his “self-cultivated public persona … nor his controversial statements about politics or culture.” Rather, Matsumoto called his crimes serious and agreed with prosecuting attorneys that “the 34-year-old was a master manipulator who conned wealthy investors.”
Infamous Pharmabro Martin Shkreli was one of the worst people of 2017, but CNBC is reporting that he's finally getting what he deserves. Convicted of numerous counts of fraud last year, Shkreli first made headlines when he raised the price of a Daraprim, a drug used by HIV patients, from $13.50 a pill to $750. Then, things got a lot worse when it was reported that he was the one who had bought the ultra-rare one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin for $2 million.
Last year, Shrkeli put the album up for sale on eBay, selling it for just over $1 million, but now CNBC says he's being ordered to forfeit his stake in the album. In fact, judge Kiyo Matsumoto said that he has to forfeit a total of $7.76 million to the federal government as part of his criminal sentence. These assets include $5 million in cash in an E-Trade brokerage account that previously allowed Shkreli's release bond, his take in drug company Vyera Pharmaceuticals, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, a painting by Pablo Picasso, and even the Lil Wayne album he reportedly has, which is none other than The Carter V.
Wu-Tang Clan’s enigmatic album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin — owned by infamous “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli — went up for auction on eBay last month. The two top contenders, Matt “M-Eighty” Markoff and Colorado resident Darby Welch, were (at various times) both confident they’d walk away with the rare, coveted album. But as of now, no sale has been finalized.
Markoff, a longtime Wu-Tang associate, believes Shkreli’s recent arrest put a halt on negotiations. He also questions the integrity of the auction.
“I think the ‘sale’ or Martin offering the album for sale was laced with fraudulent trolling intent from the get go,” Markoff tells HipHopDX. “From the moment I saw the album listed on eBay, I contacted him directly, provided him with my offer sheet and requested financial documents. You’re going to tell me my $1 million in cash you requested wasn’t enough to get the job done?
Big Big news on the Wu-Tang front. Martin Shkreli is selling Wu-Tang's Wu-Once Upon A Time In Shaolin for $1 million, half of what he spent to acquire it. Mathew "M-80" Markoff is attempting to purchase the never before heard project. He joins Jude and Justin in the studio.
If you remember way back in 2013 when Drake released the song “Wu Tang Forever,” Clan member U-God said a remix was in the works from the legendary rap group, but nearly four years after the fact we’ve yet to hear that remix, and RZA says the group missed out.
During an interview with Power 106 Thursday morning out in L.A., the Wu-Tang leader was asked if the collaboration would ever take place, and he replied “That should of happened,” before praising Drizzy and revealing that the group was on tour at the time.
RZA said Drake threw the group an alley oop with the offer for a remix but sadly, the group missed it. “First of all I want to shout Drake out. I think he threw an alley oop to us right there and I think we missed it.” The rapper also said he regrets not making the remix. While he doesn’t regret it for popularity reasons, he does wish they could have worked together because as a veteran, it’s his duty to work with the youth and “rekindle that fire” for hip-hop.
In addition to that, RZA also discussed the group’s Once Upon a Time In Shaolinalbum that was purchased for $2 million by mega pharma-douche Martin Shkreli, and a recent meeting he had with Kanye West. RZA said he spoke with ‘Ye less than 10 days ago and the Chicago rapper was in a “great place.” RZA didn’t hear any new music from him but did say the Chicago rapper was “about to get busy.”
Watch all this and more in the full 27-minute interview (below) or fast forward to the 23:42 minute mark to just hear the Drake x Wu remix talk.
If you wish to catch some of the Wu on tour, you're in luck, the NYC group is currently hitting various cities throughout the country for some live concerts. (peep dates below).
Sept. 1 – Raekwon – Kalamazoo, Mich., The Back Room Sept. 3 – Method Man & Redman -Chicago, Ill. – Soldier’s Field Sept. 7 – Raekwon – Buffalo, N.Y. – Waiting Room Sept. 10 – Wu-Tang Clan – Clio, Mich. – Cannibis Cup Sept. 15 – Ghostface Killah – Brooklyn, N.Y. – Brooklyn Bowl Sept. 16 – Wu-Tang Clan Chicago, Ill. – Riot Fest Sept. 17 – Raekwon – Los Angeles, Calif. – Paid Dues Fest Sept. 22 – Raekwon – Tulsa, Okla. – The Vanguard Sept. 24 – Raekwon – Dallas, Texas – Gas Monkey Sept. 25 – Raekwon – Austin, Texas – Antone’s Sept. 26 – Raekwon – San Antonio, Texas – The Korova Oct. 6 – Raekwon – St. Paul, Minn. Amsterdam Bar & Hall Oct. 7 – Raekwon – Los Angeles, Calif. – Globe Theater Oct. 8 – Ghostface Killah – Atlanta, Ga. – Georgia Freight Depot Oct. 21 – Ghostface Killah – Chicago, Ill. – Navy Pier
Would anyone besides Shkreli and the people who crafted it get to hear it?
There was that “first, last and only” listening session in 2015 and the recent interview Shkreli did where he nonchalantly played the 31-track album for nearly two minutes in the background, but aside from that, most people don’t know what the album sounds like.
Matt “M-Eighty” Markoff, a close Wu-Tang affiliate who has worked as an artist, A&R and executive alongside the Wu-Tang family for over 15 years, is attempting to change that. On Sunday (September 17), eBay closed the bidding for Shkreli’s rare artifact, which the infamous “Pharma Bro” had put up for auction earlier this month. It said the “winning bid”was $1,025,100.
Only a few days after the managers of rappers U-God and Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan publicly spoke out against the legitimacy of that rare Once Upon a Time in Shaolin double CD in the possession of defamed “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, the now convicted felon has sold the artifact for $1,025,100. As indicated in the description, Shkreli was not attempting to make this sale because he was strapped for cash, but rather wanted to rid himself of the album he felt was becoming a burden.
According to Domingo Negris, manager of U-God, the project in question is not considered to be "an authorized Wu-Tang Clan album.”
James Ellis, Method Man’s manager doubled down on the claim, adding "When we did the verses, it was for a Cilvaringz album. How it became a Wu-Tang album from there? We have no knowledge of that."
Nonetheless, Martin still managed to get the CD off his hands for almost half of the $2 million price tag with he first acquired it.
UPDATE!
Martin Shkreli’s eBay sale of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is evidently incomplete. According to Matt “M-Eighty” Markoff, whose tenure in the Hip Hop game is decades deep, Shkreli was unable to officially finalize the sale before being booked into a federal Brooklyn jail last week.
The good news? Once Markoff, who routinely works with Wu-Tang, is able to secure the album, he plans to share it with the rest of us.
“I was the second highest bidder at 1,025,000 and he did not make arrangements for the sale before being arrested again,” Markoff told HipHopDX. “If he has any release time before his ultimate conviction and sentencing, that is when he and I will be finalizing the purchase agreement off eBay.”
He added, “I will be releasing the album to the world at large. ”
As indicated by eBay’s website, the bidding for Once Upon A Time In Shaolin closed on September 15 and a bid of $1,025,100 was deemed “the winning bid.”
So far, Shkreli’s signature has not made it to the paperwork.
Since winning Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin with a $2 million bid in an auction two years ago, Martin Shkreli has done just about everything to remind us that he's the one in possession of the most expensive album ever sold.
After promising to release the album if Donald Trump won the presidential election last November, Shkreli played a few snippets during a live stream. In one of the clips on a YouTube account called "Best of Martin Shkreli," ten minutes of Shaolin is playingin the background of an interview. But, in a surprising twist, two people linked to the Wu-Tang Clan told Bloomberg through their respective managers that the 31-track double CD in Shkreli's possession may not really be a Wu-Tang album.
“It’s not an authorized Wu-Tang Clan album,” Domingo Neris, manager of rapper U-God, claimed. "It never was.” Method Man's manager James Ellis also questioned whether Shaolin was a true Wu-Tang album. "When we did the verses, it was for a Cilvaringz album," he said. "How it became a Wu-Tang album from there? We have no knowledge of that."
Killa Sin, a member of Wu-Tang's extended family, recalls recording sessions with producer Cilvaringz in New York, but he never got the impression that he was working on a Wu-Tang album. "The way he presented it was it was going to be basically his album, and he wanted me to do some work for him," Killa Sin said.
With so many people questioning the validity of the $2 million album, Shkreli must have heard it back to front in order to confirm that what he spent so much money on was the real deal, right? Well, when he put the album on eBay earlier this month, Shkreli wrote in the description, "I have not carefully listened to the album."
(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered Martin Shkreli to be jailed while he awaits sentencing for securities fraud, citing a Facebook post in which the former drug company offered a $5,000 reward for a strand of Hillary Clinton's hair.
Shkreli, who had been free on $5 million bail since his December 2015 arrest, was silent and stony-faced as U.S. marshals led out of U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto's Brooklyn courtroom.
Matsumoto ruled that Shkreli's Sept. 4 post, made shortly before Clinton embarked on a book tour, showed he posed a danger to the public. She rejected arguments by Shkreli's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, that the post was protected free speech.
"This is a solicitation of assault in exchange for money," the judge said. "That is not protected by the First Amendment."
Remember back in December of 2015 when the mega pharmacy-douche Martin Shkreli bought the unreleased Wu-Tang album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, for $2 million dollars? Well it turns out that after a couple legal woes, including two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiring to commit securities fraud, the NYC millionaire is looking to get rid of the project now.
On Tuesday, Martin started an auction for the project on Ebay, which has already reached $55,000 USD in just a few hours. With nine days left remaining to bid on the auction, Martin said he may cancel this sale at any time, and may even “break the album in frustration.” He also added that half of the sale proceeds will go to medical research in the description of the ebay post.
The full description of the Ebay post read as following:
“I decided to purchase this album as a gift to the Wu-Tang Clan for their tremendous musical output. Instead I received scorn from at least one of their (least-intelligent) members, and the world at large failed to see my purpose of putting a serious value behind music. I will be curious to see if the world values music nearly as much as I have. I have donated to many rock bands and rappers over the years to ensure they can continue to produce their art when few others would. At any time I may cancel this sale and I may even break this album in frustration. I will donate half of the sale proceeds to medical research. I am not selling to raise cash--my companies and I have record amounts of cash on hand. I hope someone with a bigger heart for music can be found for this one-of-a-kind piece and makes it available for the world to hear. Upon sale, I will represent & warranty any copies of the music I have will be destroyed. I have not carefully listened to the album, which is a double CD. There is also a finely crafted booklet which you can read about elsewhere. I will pay legal expenses for the buyer up to $25,000 to ensure the final purchase details are mutually agreeable.”
Check out the eBay post yourself right here. Hopefully the sale of this album means that we’ll finally get to hear it in the near future. Fingers crossed.
It was recently during a live internet chat discussing his charges that Shkreli played Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon A Time in Shaolin, the rare project that he purchased for $2 million, and infamously threatened to destroy.
“I donated $2 million to Wu-Tang,” he said of the buy around the 48-minute mark below.. “I got a mixtape in return, it was a wonderful investment. I view it as a donation. People might see that as splurging. I don’t think there are many people in the world who have patronized hip-hop to the extent I have.”
For the next ten minutes, he would play the project until the clips inevitably ends.
Martin Shkreli is trying to sell tickets to a lecture next week by billing the event as a listening event.
On Wednesday, Martin Shkreli, the infamous pharmaceutical exec who purchased the Wu-Tang album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin for more than $2 million last year, took to social media to promote an event next week dubbed “An Evening With Martin Shkreli,” which will find him lecturing at NYC’s Webster Hall about politics, investing & healthcare. But what many people are finding interesting is that Martin also described the lecture as a listening event. So could he be planning on playing the album for those in attendance? It appears that way.
According to the listing on Eventbrite, Shkreli was scheduled to play “unreleased music” from his Wu-Tang collection & more. However, shortly after the announcement, Shkreli took to Facebook to announce the event had been canceled due to some threats.
“It's sad that a couple of threats can cancel a 500 person event people wanted to go to..”
Shkreli has already played snippets from the album back in November following Trump's victory, so the idea of him wanting to play the full thing shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Let's just hope it doesn't happen in the manner in which he wishes.
We’ll keep you posted if any more on this story develops.
Martin Shkreli still owns the only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan's album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, and he promised to release the project to the public if Donald Trump was elected president. So following Trump's victory on Tuesday night, Shkreli appeared to be make good on that promise. He shared several snippets of the album during a live stream and promised to negotiate the terms of a wider release for the album with Wu-Tang.
He started off by playing part of the album's intro track:
After that, he previewed two more tracks from the album:
As it turned out, none of that came to fruition, and he's now looking to share the album with the world. It's unclear how members of Wu-Tang will feel about this, as it was originally reported that the buyer of the album was contractually obligated not to share the album for 88 years after purchasing it.
You can listen to all the snippets of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin above, and stay tuned for more information about whether or not we'll end up seeing the entire project released by Shkreli.
Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceutical businessman who purchased the latest Wu-Tang Clan album for $2 million, is trying to incentivize people to vote for Donald Trump by offering to let his entire music collection, including that one-of-one Wu-Tang album, go if Trump wins. “If Trump wins, my entire unreleased music collection, including unheard Nirvana, Beatles, and of course, Wu-Tang, comes out, for free,” he wrote on Twitter Wednesday evening (Oct. 26).
Martin Shkreli, poster boy for Big Pharma, textbook narcissist, and owner of Wu-Tang Clan’s $2 million album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, took to Twitter on Friday to share his plans to release a rap album.
