PleasrDAO, the collective of decentralized finance leaders, NFT collectors and digital artists, announced itself as the new owner of Wu Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind album “Once Upon A Time In Shaolin.” The 74 members of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) now share collective ownership of the unique project. Initially the details of who had purchased the album remained shrouded in mystery. However on October 20, PleasrDAO confirmed itself as the owners.
Acquiring the Wu Tang Clan Album
PleasrDAO acquired the album in July for $4 million following on from its sale by the federal government. In september it moved to a vault in an undisclosed location in New York. Then, they minted the Wu Tang clan’s album ownership deed as a NFT.
Actually, the NFT collectors are famous for tokenizing the original ‘dog meme’ back in June for $4 million.
Originally, US government seized the album from pharmaceutical kingpin, turned felon, Martin Shkreli. In fact, it helped cover the balance of a $7.4 million forfeiture money agreement that was part of Shkreli’s sentencing agreement in 2018. Shkreli, who is still serving out a seven year prison sentence, bought the album for $2 million in 2015.
PleasrDAO rescued the Wu Tang album from a dark fate, and now it’s an NFT!
A short history of “Once Upon A Time In Shaolin”
“Once Upon A Time In Shaolin” is the seventh studio album from American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. Incredibly, they only made a single copy upon its release in 2015. Apparently, the project is the most expensive work of music ever sold.
The album, which took six years to release, came as a response to the devaluation of music in the digital era. Upon completion, a single two-CD copy was pressed and secured in a vault in the Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco.
Additionally, the album comes with legal stipulations regarding commercial exploitation. Essentially, the Wu-Tang Clan prohibit its release to the general public in any form until 2103. However, there are possibilities to listen to the group’s rare album at listening parties or gallery-style exhibitions.
