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An album so rare and valuable that only a few ears have ever listened to it is set to go on display at an Australian gallery, giving the public a taste of the uber-exclusive tracks.<\/b><\/p>\n
Housed in an ornate silver box, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin – recorded in secret by the Wu-Tang Clan over six years – was designed to be a piece of fine art. Only a single CD copy exists.<\/p>\n
The record by the pioneering hip-hop group is the most expensive ever sold, and has now been loaned to Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (Mona).<\/p>\n
Over 10 days in June, Mona will host small listening parties where members of the public can hear a curated, 30-minute sample of the album.<\/p>\n
The album is part of its Namedropping exhibition, which examines status, notoriety and “the human pursuit”.<\/p>\n
“Every once in a while, an object on this planet possesses mystical properties that transcend its material circumstances,” said Mona Director of Curatorial Affairs Jarrod Rawlins.<\/p>\n
“Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is more than just an album, so… I knew I had to get it into this exhibition.”<\/p>\n
Recorded in New York City and produced in Marrakesh between 2006 and 2013, the album includes the nine surviving members of the group – and features pop artist Cher and Game of Thrones actress Carice Van Houten.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The group felt the value of music had been cheapened by online streaming and piracy, and wanted to take “a 400-year-old Renaissance-style approach to music, offering it as a commissioned commodity”.<\/p>\n
It includes a hand-carved nickel box and a leather-bound manuscript containing lyrics and a certificate of authenticity – and a legal condition that the owner cannot release the 31 tracks for 88 years.<\/p>\n
Producer RZA likened it to a Picasso artwork, or an ancient Egyptian artefact.<\/p>\n
“It’s a unique original rather than a master copy of an album,” he said when the album went on sale in 2015.<\/p>\n
As a result, only a handful of people on the planet have heard snippets of the 31 tracks.<\/p>\n
A group of potential buyers and media heard a 13-minute section in 2015, and disgraced drug firm executive Martin Shkreli – who bought the album for $2m (\u00a31.6m, A$3m) – streamed clips of the music on YouTube to celebrate Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory.<\/p>\n
Shkreli was later forced to hand it over to US prosecutors in 2018 after being convicted of defrauding investors, and it was then sold to digital art collective Pleasr.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Pleasr said the Mona listening parties – which will run between 15 and 24 June – helped realise the group’s “bold vision to make a single copy album as a work of fine art”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n