Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA has admitted that he regrets selling the collective’s album, Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, to the disgraced pharmaceutical tycoon Martin Shkreli.
Shkreli is currently in prison and serving a seven-year sentence after he was found guilty of defrauding investors in hedge funds. After his imprisonment, the US government forced Shkreli to sell the copy.
In 2014, Shkreli purchased the only copy of their most recent album for $2million. Before hitting the headlines for buying the album, he faced mass criticism after getting the rights to the life-saving drug Daraprim and hiking up the price.
During a new interview with New York radio station Hot 97, RZA recalled how the album ended up “in the wrong hands” in 2015. “[Shkreli] made the deal before it was revealed of his character, of his personality, and all of the insidious things he would go on to do,” he explained.
It was recently revealed the album’s new owner is PleasrDAO. Their website states they are “a collective of DeFi leaders, early NFT collectors and digital artists who have built a formidable yet benevolent reputation for acquiring culturally significant pieces with a charitable twist”.
RZA added in the interview that PleasrDAO fits in with Wu-Tang’s “vibe”, and they will help the record “expand itself in the world”. He also noted, “I think the possibilities are there now.”
