RZA Has Tried To Buy Back Martin Shkreli's Wu-Tang Album

Wu-Tang Clan's one of a kind Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album was famously purchased by pharma fraudster Martin Shkreli. The sale was made before an extensive background check would reveal a majorly bungled world takeover. RZA admits that not a day passes where he doesn't check on the album's expectant shelf life. He's tried and tried again to repurchase the album, but a legal stipulation has made it next to impossible.

"I've actually tried to get it back, but the paperwork and the contract stops me from getting it back. When (Shkreli) put it on eBay, the first thing I did was call my lawyer, and I was like, 'Yo, let's go.' And they said, 'All right, check with your contract.' And it's no, you can't do it. Ain't that a bitch?"

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which sold for a cool 2 million, has become the stuff of legend. RZA admits that he Cilvaringz had always envisioned making a fabled piece of work, akin to a frozen artifact.

"It's kind of crazy. The record has become an entity, very different from a lot of albums. It's like the Mona Lisa. It's got its own folklore."

As reported by Forbes earlier this month, the album's lies in a decision by the U.S. attorney's office, essentially blocking its sale to just about anyone. In purchasing the album in 2015, Shkreli contractually agreed to not resell for 88 years, and to only listen in the privacy of his home. Well now that Shkreli is sentenced to serve 7 years in Federal Prison, the issue might be rushed to the fore, hopefully in RZA's favour.

[via RollingStone]