Martin Shkreli Leaks Unreleased Wu-Tang Clan Music
Martin Shkreli, the controversial businessman who purchased Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-one album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, celebrated Donald Trump’s presidential triumph by unleashing snippets of the never-before-heard LP.
Shkreli claimed to own unreleased music by others as well, including Tupac Shakur, The Beatles, Nirvana, Radiohead, and Jimmy Hendrix, among others.
https://twitter.com/MartinShkreli/status/796201087384637441
As the night continued, Shkreli taunted Twitter followers, Big Sean, Ariana Grande, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton, before releasing snippets of the Wu album that he is the sole owner of.
Backed by instruments and a Bernie Sanders campaign sticker, Shkreli unveiled Once Upon a Time’s intro in a video that’s since made its way onto YouTube.
“Welcome,” says Raekwon. “Time to shoot back down to the 36 chambers, the 36 chambers of death, home of Wu-Tang Clan.”
This, of course, is a reference to Wu’s 1993 debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).
Another track Shkreli shared features a verse from Method Man. “We go hard,” raps Meth. “We ain’t got no sense / My whole squad got the block on tense.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=3dxvCAvIUW0
There is only one copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in existence and it belongs to Shkreli. He purchased it from the group last year for a reported $2 million. The album was previously previewed at the MOMA PS1 in New York, but only 13 minutes of the 31-track LP were heard.
However, last month, Shkreli promised to release the music if Trump won the presidency.
https://twitter.com/MartinShkreli/status/791488951781625856
Shkreli has been criticized for his business practices in the past, most notably for raising the price of a drug used by AIDS patients called Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
Even Wu members have criticized Shkreli, including Ghostface. “This is about AIDS right now,” Ghostface said in a video diss aimed at the mogul. “This is what you did to the people, to the American people and the people all over the world. I stand for them. I’m not gonna allow you to keep killing these people.”