Once you get past:
1. Enter
2. Forever
3. Ol’ Dirty Bastard
The great Wu don’t thrill me the way they thrill the vast majority. Undoubtedly one of the most influential bands of all time, every single thing about em makes my heart sink a little. Obviously, without Wu no Kid Cudi or Drake, or really modern hip hop, the Frank Oceans and Weeknd’s of the world but I am not a huge proponent of modern hip hop and except for the brilliance that was ODB I am not huge.
But even so … releasing one copy of their latest album is pretty damn funny. “We’re about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before. We’re about to put out a piece of art like nobody else has done in the history of [modern] music. We’re making a single-sale collector’s item. This is like somebody having the scepter of an Egyptian king.” Said RZA.
Billboard reported: “The single edition of “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” will sit in a hand-carved, nickel-silver box designed by Yahya, a British Moroccan artist. According to an official site containing information about the album, the double LP will feature the full Clan, as well as guests like Bonnie Jo Mason, Redman and FC Barcelona soccer players”
OK got it?
Let’s try and put this in some form of perspective.
It doesn’t mean a damn thing in 2014,
Wu claim that since music has zero value (more or less) and art is worth millions, this one album work of art will be worth millions. I doubt it but even so, how can recorded music not leak? And who would record a double album and not leak tracks. And once they do (and they will) what would the value of this exclusive album be.
To put it another way, who would spend millions on a product that will devalue in price at the speed of sound?Â
Here is the Wu’s statement:
”
“The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin…”
“The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin…” is explained on a site named “ezclziv scluzay.” It includes this “Edictum”:
Wu-Tang producers Cilvaringz and The RZA present the first ever private music album.
The music will only ever have one incarnation.
It will not be made available digitally or in any other existing mass format.
After touring the album at festivals, museums, exhibition spaces and galleries for the public as a one off experience, it will be sold exclusively to one buyer.
The music industry is in crisis. Creativity has become disposable and value has been stripped out.
Mass production and content saturation have devalued both our experience of music and our ability to establish its value.
Industrial production and digital reproduction have failed. The intrinsic value of music has been reduced to zero.
Contemporary art is worth millions by virtue of its exclusivity.
This album is a piece of contemporary art.
The debate starts here…”
