Once Upon A Time In Shaolin

[GeneChing]

I did NOT see that one coming...

Cher, Wu-Tang Clan Collaborate for Two Songs on Secret Album
'The Wu - Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' features unlikely vocals from iconic singer


Cher, RZA of Wu-Tang Clan.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images; Mark Horton/WireImage
By Jason Newman
May 7, 2014 8:55 AM ET

Cher has contributed vocals to two songs on Wu-Tang Clan's upcoming "secret album" The Wu - Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.

A representative for Cher declined to make the singer available for comment, but confirmed the collaboration to Rolling Stone. "She recorded her parts separately, so I don't believe there was direct interaction," said the rep.

In a video posted by Forbes on Tuesday, writer Zack O'Malley Greenberg traveled to Marrakesh, Morocco to "become the first civilian" to hear the album, of which the group is only pressing one copy and selling to the highest bidder. Tarik "Cilvaringz" Azzougarh, the album's producer, played one song on-camera featuring Ghostface Killah rhyming over pounding drums, dusty organ and a repeated female wail. At the end of the track, Cher improbably sings, "Wu-Tang, baby. They rock the world."

Cher's appearance had been hiding in plain sight since at least March, when the album's website noted that it "includes special guest appearances by Bonnie Jo Mason." In 1964, Cher released "Ringo, I Love You," her first solo single without Sonny Bono and a tribute to Ringo Starr, under the pseudonym of the same name.



In the video, Azzougarh says production of the album, which was six years in the making, was done in Marrakesh "in a very unconventional way." After Azzougarh produced the tracks and sent them to RZA for review, the pair came up with song titles before it was decided which rappers would appear on which tracks. When it was time for each Wu member to record his part, the rappers rhymed over similar-sounding beats, but not the original, to avoid any leaks. According to Azzougarh, no one in the group, including RZA, was given final copies of the album.

The video also shows the album's container, which was handcrafted over three months by 10 artists led by British-Moroccan artist Yahya. Yahya shows off the case, an ornate container carved in nickel silver with the Wu-Tang W logo embossed in the middle of the case. "We treat it as an art piece, which it is," says Yahya. The album has allegedly been moved to a different secret location since the video was shot.

"We're about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before," RZA told Forbes in March. "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."

Before the album is sold to one wealthy fan — RZA claims he's been offered $5 million for the 31-track record — it will be toured across the world's museums, galleries and festivals, using headphones to protect the songs from piracy.

The release of the secret album has been overshadowed of late by group infighting over Wu's other upcoming album A Better Tomorrow. Last month, Raekwon told Rolling Stone that he was "on strike" from the group, accusing RZA of "mediocre ****" when it came to new music and alleging that contracts still needed to be negotiated for him to appear. After saying that Wu-Tang Clan "needs him" on the next album, RZA gave the rapper a 30-day ultimatum to agree to terms. While it's unclear if Raekwon will appear on A Better Tomorrow, the rapper told Rolling Stone the odds were two out of 10.

[MarathonTmatt]

MK Ultra Mind Control. Sell your soul to the devil... for a price.

Here is a link regarding the attempted assassination of Tila Tequila. "Blame it on the drugs."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMGyE...yer_detailpage

[GeneChing]

No, Skrillex Didn't Buy Wu-Tang's $5M 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' Album
By Andrew Flanagan | December 01, 2014 4:16 PM EST


Skrillex performs a DJ set by the pool on the roof of Red Bull Guest House, in Miami, FL, on 22 March 2013
Robert Snow/Red Bull Content Pool

One of the year's great mysteries -- who will buy the Wu-Tang Clan's one-of-a-kind record? -- remains unsolved.

Skrillex can afford a lot of nice things -- he made $15 million two years ago, according to Forbes -- from a nice home studio to a communal, techno-artistic downtown Los Angeles warehouse. But just because he can spend a lot of money on nice things doesn't mean he actually has, even if those nice things recently appeared in the music video for his song "F--- That" (which you can watch below).

Despite recent rumors, Billboard has confirmed with Skrillex's team that the dance music wunderkind did not purchase the Wu-Tang Clan's cold, silver art piece. While the Wu-Tang's one-of-a-kind album, which features Cher on two songs, has been in a sort of limbo since being announced early this year, RZA told Billboard in April that the offers were coming in.

Too bad - a Wu-Tang Skrillex collab would be off the hook.

[GeneChing]

Anyone hear A Better Tomorrow yet?

Wu-Tang Taps Paddle8 Auction House To Sell Secret Album


The Saga Continues: Wu-Tang will sell its secret album through upstart auction house Paddle8 (photo: Rashad Patterson).

Nearly a year ago, the Wu-Tang Clan shocked the music world with an announcement too bizarre for fiction: the hip-hop collective had recorded a secret double album dubbed The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, and was planning to sell just one copy.

The album’s producer, Tarik “Cilvaringz” Azzougarh, invited me to hear a snippet of the lone LP in Marrakech last spring. He explained that Wu-Tang wanted to reverse the devaluation of music and help it regain the fine art status it enjoyed during the Renaissance; RZA later said the group received a $5 million offer for the record. Then Wu-Tang went silent and focused on releasing A Better Tomorrow.

Today, it appears the group is ready to turn its attention back to Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, confirming for the first time the manner in which—and the unusual outlet by which—the album will eventually be sold.

“We will announce Paddle8 as [the] official auction house,” said RZA in an electronic message to FORBES.

Founded in 2011 by Harvard Business School grad Aditya Julka and LVMH veteran Alexander Gilkes, Paddle8 is backed by angel investors from Damien Hirst to the Mellon family. It has also received funding from respected firms including Founder Collective (Uber, Makerbot) and Mousse Partners (Warby Parker, Paperless Post).

The company, which boasts a team of 75, conducts online-only auctions (and for charitable auctions can partner with non-profits to secure a floor for bids before a live event), typically with lower fees than the grand old auctioneers. The aforementioned Hirst, Julian Schnabel, Jeff Koons and other big name artists have sold their works through Paddle8.

RZA, Cilvaringz, the rest of Wu-Tang and Paddle8 won’t reveal much else about the sale process for now, only that more information will be released through a micro-site later this month. The site will contain interviews with RZA, Wu-Tang-related essays and a sneak peek at Once Upon A Time In Shaolin‘s tracklist. And the transaction will be treated as a private sale, not an auction.

“That’s something that auction houses–Christie’s, Sotheby’s, all the way down to Paddle8–do quite frequently,” says Paddle8′s Sarah Goulet. “It’s price upon request.”

As such, Paddle8 will filter legitimate offers and Wu-Tang will try to settle on one that seems to be the best fit, a bit different from a traditional auction. Regardless of the format, it seemed clear from the outset that involving an auction house would be logical, given the need for an entity that could sort serious buyers from jokers.

“Anyone can send an email saying, ‘I got $55 million,’” Cilvaringz told me in Morocco. “I got one like that before. But it’s like, ‘Yeah, right.’”

Given that established auction houses like Sotheby’s seem to have been sniffing around the album, the choice of Paddle8 is perhaps just as outrageous and/or forward thinking as the one-album concept itself.

What remains to be seen is when the sale will occur—and how much Once Upon A Time In Shaolin will fetch on the (relatively) open market.

“This is being positioned both by the Wu-Tang Clan and by Paddle8 as a work of art,” says Goulet. “It’s truly treating this album, which very well may be the last album that the Wu-Tang Clan makes together, as a one-of-a kind, special property that is worth the price.”

Note: An earlier version of this story stated that Paddle8 has a team of over 50 people, and has been updated to reflect the latest headcount of 75; this version also includes language clarifying Paddle8′s involvement in live auctions.

[GeneChing]

Anyone here going to bid?

Wu-Tang Clan to Auction Single-Copy Album 'Shaolin' Online
"This is being positioned both by the Wu-Tang Clan and by Paddle8 as a work of art," auction-house spokeswoman Sarah Goulet says


Timothy Hiatt/Getty
Wu-Tang Clan perform at Bumbershoot in August 2014. The hip-hop group's single-copy 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' album will be auctioned online.

By Jon Blistein | January 8, 2015

The only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan's album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, will be sold on the online auction site, Paddle8, Forbes reports. Wu-Tang honcho RZA said in a video interview for Forbes that while the auction date has not yet been announced, more details would be revealed during a press conference tentatively scheduled for January 28th.

"They've had a lot of success over the last three years," RZA said of Paddle8. "And they also understand the concept of the new form of art, as well as the classic form of art — so people will find dinosaur bones to what Banksy is doing. This is modern art as well, and the new album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, should be, and is, considered a piece of modern art."

Accompanying the sale itself, Paddle8 will also help launch a "micro-site" later this month that will feature interviews with the RZA, essays about the Wu-Tang Clan and a peek at Once Upon a Time in Shaolin's tracklist.

As Forbes also reports, the transaction will technically be treated as a private sale, and not an actual auction. According to Paddle8's Sarah Goulet, this is something auction houses do frequently: They'll separate the legitimate buyers from the pranksters, and the Wu-Tang Clan will ultimately decide which offered price is best.

"This is being positioned both by the Wu-Tang Clan and by Paddle8 as a work of art," Goulet said. "It’s truly treating this album, which very well may be the last album that the Wu-Tang Clan makes together, as a one-of-a kind, special property that is worth the price."

After Wu-Tang Clan announced Once Upon a Time in Shaolin last spring, the RZA said he'd been offered $2 million and $5 million for the album. Made over six years, and produced by the RZA and Cilvaringz, the 31-track LP reportedly boasts appearances from Redman, FC Barcelona soccer players and even Cher. Once Upon a Time in Shaolin will also come in a one-of-a-kind, hand-carved, nickel-silver box designed by the British Moroccan artist Yahya.

[GeneChing]

Wu-Tang Clan Rules Buyer of 'Once Upon A Time in Shaolin' Must Wait 88 Years to Reproduce Album Commercially
by Ryan Book, The Music Times Mar 2, 2015 10:27 AM EST


The Wu – Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, a secret album by the Wu-Tang Clan (Photo : ezclziv scluzay)
The Wu: Once Upon A Time in Shaolin, the newest album from the Wu-Tang Clan, has been one of the most engaging projects of the last few years. The hip-hop group is selling only one copy of the album, at an auction house, to the highest bidder. The original concept was that the winning bidder could do with it what he or she wished, whether that means keeping it to themselves or marketing it to the masses. The final product comes with a 174-page, leather-bound set of liner notes and comes housed in a silver and nickel plated storage box.
Some details have changed however: Apparently the Wu decided to include some limits on what the owner may do with the record once they buy. For one, they won't be able to reproduce it for profit, or otherwise. At least for 88 years. The concept behind Shaolin is to return music to the vaunted status of high art that it once held, and mass production doesn't live up to that standard (from Forbes).
"When you buy a painting or a sculpture, you're buying that piece rather than the right to replicate it," producer RZA said. "Owning a Picasso doesn't mean you can sell prints or reproductions but that you're the sole owner of a unique original. And that's what Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is. It's a unique original rather than a master copy of an album."
The hip-hop collective didn't want to be too snobby however so they set an 88-year limit instead. Meaning that at some point during 2103, some correspondent at Music Times will finally be able to review The Wu: Once Upon A Time in Shaolin.
Why the 88-year number? Symbolism and numerology of course. The digit eight represents the original number of members in the Clan, the sum of the numbers that make up the year 2015, it's featured in the name of the auction house selling the album (Paddle8), and of course it becomes the infinity symbol when displayed sideways (all of these are real reasons cited by the group).
The new Wu-Tang Clan album is becoming an Indiana Jones film.

Are they still going to play it as a museum art exhibit?

[curenado]

Whole thing seems like a bunch of goofy hype. I did buy their re-done version of "Ol Dirty Kung Fu".