Posted on 09/15/2017 7:22:34 AM PDT by Red Badger
Sources close to the group say "it's not an authorized Wu-Tang Clan album"
The saga of the Wu-Tang Clan's ultra-limited $2 million Once Upon a Time in Shaolin LP may finally come to an end tomorrow night (September 15) as Martin Shkreli's eBay auction closes, with the current bid for the record sitting at over $1 million. Now, however, some close to the rap crew are alleging the valuable full-length may not even be true Wu-Tang album at all.
As Bloomberg reports, Wu-Tang members U-God and Method Man described the record, through their respective managers, as simply a project helmed by producer/RZA protege Cilvaringz (a.k.a. Tarik Azzougarh).
"It's not an authorized Wu-Tang Clan album," U-God manager Domingo Neris told the publication. "It never was."
Method Man manager James Ellis added that "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."
As previously reported, when news of the record first broke in 2014, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin had allegedly been in the works since 1997 with Azzougarh serving as co-producer. He reportedly began working on the project while living in Marrakech, and conceived the idea of delivering the set of tracks in the lavish edition of one alongside RZA himself.
Neris alleges that Azzougarh gathered Wu-Tang verses over the years for his own projects only to piece them together himself for the album without seeking the permission of the full group. U-God sued the Wu-Tang Clan last year for $2.5 million USD, citing unpaid royalties. Bloomberg notes that the case is currently pending.
"We're very detailed about the quality and how we put our best foot forward," Neris explained. "We would never have authorized anyone to put together a project and call it a Wu-Tang Clan record without us ever looking at it, hearing it, or being in the same room together. That's just the way these guys work."
"The album and its concept were an evolutionary process that spanned six years, too complex to explain in a soundbite," Azzougarh told Bloomberg in a statement. "All participating Wu-Tang artists were paid in advance while RZA and I bore the financial risk of the project."
Bloomberg also spoke to two Wu-Tang-affiliated MCs who recorded verses with Azzougarh with the expectation that they would appear on the disc. Killa Sin, a member of affiliated crew Killarmy, told the publication that "the way he presented it...was it was going to be basically his album, and he wanted me to do some work for him."
Shyheim Franklin told the publication that the producer "did mention it being a project he was trying to produce with everyone on it...there wasn't the assumption that it would be a Wu-Tang album."
"It's an insult," Killa Sin continued. "It's like fuck everybody else. I'm going to get mine. He probably thought, 'We're onto something. We can really get some money for this.' But you got to stop and say, 'How would my brothers feel?'"
Upon reaching out to Shkreli for comment on the legitimacy of the record, he replied "hahahahahahahahahahahaha" in an email before calling Bloomberg "an overpriced, legacy software system that subsidizes a money-losing media company...This state of affairs will soon change."
Uh...wut?
This album was broadly publicized regarding its production, offering, and sale years ago. It’s not like these guys didn’t know about what is presumably their own album, and bizarre they didn’t make such comments _then_ instead of _now_ if what they’re saying is true.
Wu-Tang Clan is a rather amorphous group of artists that interact together and from time to time produce an album.
I think what they are trying to say is someone on the periphery of this group produced an album and presented it as a Wu-Tang creation without their permission.
The person(s) responsible got around their legalities by offering only a single copy for $2 million dollars.
The buyer can do whatever he wishes with it EXCEPT make copies.................
I had a member ask me to deal drugs out of my cab for them on staten island about 25 years ago.
I passed.
Shkreli is having a bad week
"U-God"? Can our country get any more insane?
Wu Tang related to Wang Chung?
Different Clan...............
Lamont Jody Hawkins (born October 11, 1970), better known as U-God (short for Universal God), is an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective, Wu-Tang Clan. He has been with the group since its inception, and is known for having a deep, rhythmic flow that can alternate between being gruff or smooth.
U-God - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-God
“EXCEPT”
He can distribute it for free. There’s the hope: some rich arts patron will buy it and release it to the public domain (or CC). Being intrigued by the distribution model used, and moderately appreciative of Wu-Tang’s work, I’m hoping someone will do so (or at least do something appreciative & interesting with it, not just use it as a coaster).
Like software, you own the physical but not the intellectual.
He can’t give away copies. He can only sell the original disc.
But who would buy it now that Wu-Tang has disavowed its authenticity?...............
I remain unconvinced by the complaints, considering this album has been well-publicized for several years. There’s no way they didn’t know about its production & sale at the time. Strange that _now_ someone pipes up and complains about missing a rather lucrative cut/contract.
I recall a big deal at the time of first sale was that the buyer could give away copies free. It was up to the buyer to decide whether to keep it as a single instance for his own personal & sole enjoyment, host playings of the single disc (a la art exhibition), sell the original disc, or release the content to the public domain; yes, _selling_ copies was contractually forbidden.
There was also a clause that the Wu-Tang Clan, and/or Bill Murray, had the option of stealing the disc back.
Shkreli apparently has already done that.
He livestreamed it to Youtube..............
I am surprised there hasn’t been a ‘leak’ of it from some anonymous source.
Perhaps we should hire them to run the Intel Agencies...................
IIRC he played a bit of it in the background during an interview, which may count as “free release” but hardly what anyone is looking for.
I’d hoped for a leak, but between understandably & typically secured studio production, and there being only one copy outside the studio, kinda hard to “leak” it.
With that kind of money involved their security must be absolute.
The original tracks must be in a vault somewhere in Siberia...................
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