Two excerpts from Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon A Time in Shaolin, the single-copy album that has been largely impossible for the public to hear, have now been made available through a podcast. The episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, which is devoted to the record, includes the two snippets. They can be heard at 32:30 and 39:02 during the show.
The podcast produced the episode in cooperation with PleasrDAO, the crypto art collective that currently owns the album. Together they held a listening party at which the record was played for Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man, who had never heard it before that point. The podcast recorded the event and Method Man's reaction to it.
The album's ownership history is covered at length in the episode. Martin Shkreli, a disgraced pharmaceutical executive, purchased the only copy at auction in 2015. The album cannot be commercially released until 2103. Shkreli was later required to forfeit the record to the US government, and the government sold it in 2021 to PleasrDAO.
PleasrDAO has since permitted the album to be played at special exhibitions. Those events, along with the podcast's listening party, represent the limited opportunities that have existed to hear the record.
For US listeners, the two excerpts are available through the published episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out rather than through any commercial release, which remains barred by the album's terms until 2103. The episode also marks the first time a member of the group has been documented hearing the album, according to the podcast's account of the event.
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