Somewhere hidden in Marrakech, Morocco, inside a vault housed beneath the shadow of the Atlas Mountains, there sits an masterfully engraved silver-and-nickel box. Inside... the Wu-Tang Clan’s NEW double-album The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, (recorded in secret over the past few years). British-Moroccan artist Yahya, whose works have been commissioned by royal families and business leaders around the world, created the one-of-a-kind work of art. The preciously crafted container took three months to make.
WuTang will make and sell just one copy of the album. According to RZA, 1 million pounds has already been offered to the legendary hip hop group. “We’re about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before,” says Robert “RZA” Diggs, the first Wu-Tang member to speak on record about Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, in an exclusive interview with FORBES (source http://www.forbes.com). “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.”
In a recent interview with Wendy Williams, RZA explained that music has become devalued.
This is his attempt to elevate and reclaim music as true artform. The plan is to the album on a museum and gallery tour. The approach is similar to the way a priceless piece of fine art is exhibited and toured. Visitors will be able to view and listen to the 31 songs on headphones. There will be extreme measures taken to ensure that a single note doesn't gets leaked.
After the tour, the bidding war will begin.
The album produced by Tarik “Cilvaringz” Azzougarh has an air of the vintage Wu-Tang sound that made the group famous. As Cilvaringnz worked on the masterpiece, he had a lot of time to think about the shelf life of his work. “It took a long time,” says Cilvaringz. “After five years, I’m sitting here and I’m like, ‘Am I really going to release this record and see it die after a week?" (source http://www.forbes.com). That was the beginning of the "one copy" concept.
Cilvaringz hope is to inspire a shift, appreciation and renaissance of the art of sound. There's even talk of the idea this reviving the practice of commissioning private music. Everything about this is jaw-dropping and exiting! This is like a new, organic, remixed, titanium-covered Save the Music campaign and we think its #CertifiedCOOL.
This certainly a way to keep their "WuTang Forever" mantra alive.
