Wu-Tang Clan's $4 Million Album“Once Upon A Time In Shaolin” Now A Netflix Documentary

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The unusual history of the Wu-Tang Clan's exclusive album,“Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” (2015), is now featured in a new Netflix documentary titled“The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable.” Directed by Joanna Natasegara, the film explores the creation, unconventional release, and subsequent journey of the album, which currently holds the title of the world's most expensive. The documentary is now streaming.

Initially conceptualized as a protest against music commodification, only a single, elaborately packaged copy of the 31-track album was ever released. It was later acquired by Martin Shkreli for a reported $2 million in 2015 through a Paddle8 auction. Shkreli was subsequently convicted of securities fraud and jailed in 2017, leading the U.S. Justice Department to seize the album.

In 2021, the decentralized autonomous organization PleasrDAO purchased“Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” from the U.S. government for $4 million. Adrian Johnson of PleasrDAO highlighted the album's paradoxical status, stating,“It's the most talked-about album in the world, but almost no one has heard it. It's raw hip hop born in the projects, but it's also the most expensive album in the world.”

The album's concept originated with producer Tarik Azzougarh, known as Cilvaringz, a Wu-Tang protégé. After visiting the Giza Pyramids in Egypt with the group's original members, Azzougarh was inspired to create something that would“last the ages.” He then spent six years in the late 2000s recording tracks with the entire group, its affiliates, and guest artists including FC Barcelona players and Cher. The idea to sell the album as contemporary art came from a desire to prevent its devaluation in the digital age.

The physical album consists of two CDs housed in a hand-crafted silver box designed by British-Moroccan artist Yahya Rouach. RZA, a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, described it as“a unique work of art and it's an urgent statement for our times” at a 2015 listening event at MoMA PS1 in New York.

Jamis Johnson, PleasrDAO's former chief pleasing officer and a dedicated Wu-Tang fan, spearheaded the effort to acquire the album. Adrian Johnson, Jamis's younger brother, who passed away in 2025 at age 38, said of his brother's goal:“He always said the goal was bringing it back to the people. The art or artifacts that the DAO invests in hold meaning, and this one specifically was about the devaluation of music as a work of art. He wanted to bring that message to the world.”

Under PleasrDAO's ownership, the album has been exhibited and featured in listening sessions, including a major showcase at Australia's Museum of Old and New Art in 2024. Another exclusive listening party took place in October at Brooklyn's Eavesdrop bar, attended by Method Man, who validated it as“a valid piece of art right here.” Adrian Johnson noted that attendees at these sessions, free from phones, become immersed, sometimes dancing. He remarked,“The album is working the way it was meant to. People want music to be an occasion again.”

We previously reported:

A new Netflix documentary explores the Wu-Tang Clan's controversial 2015 sale of“Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” a single-copy album, to Martin Shkreli.

Source: Artnet News

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