{"id":36743,"date":"2024-06-18T07:40:20","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T07:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/what-does-the-worlds-rarest-album-sound-like\/"},"modified":"2024-06-18T07:40:22","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T07:40:22","slug":"what-does-the-worlds-rarest-album-sound-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/what-does-the-worlds-rarest-album-sound-like\/","title":{"rendered":"What does the world’s rarest album sound like?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By\u00a0Tiffanie Turnbull,\u00a0<\/span>in Hobart, Australia<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Mona\/JesseMona\/Jesse Hunniford<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin housed in a silver box on display in the museum<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Inside a delicately hand-carved silver box on display in an Australian museum lies the most exclusive, most valuable, and perhaps most infamous album in the world.<\/p>\n

And this weekend, I became one of the lucky few on the planet to have heard it.<\/p>\n

Recorded in secret over six years by trailblazing hip-hop group the Wu-Tang Clan, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was designed to be a piece of fine art.<\/p>\n

Only a single CD copy exists \u2013 and with it comes a legal stipulation that the owner cannot publicly release the 31 tracks until 2103.<\/p>\n

The record, which features the nine surviving members of the group, is currently on loan to Tasmania\u2019s Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) \u2013 a gallery so well known for its headline-catching art some dub it Australia\u2019s \u201cTemple of Weird\u201d.<\/p>\n

First conceived during the pandemic, the museum\u2019s new Namedropping exhibition explores why humans chase things that signal status and notoriety.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Wu-Tang Clan’s unique flavour of hip-hop revolutionised the genre when they burst onto the scene in the 1990s<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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At the top of lead curator Jarrad Rawlins\u2019 wish list for the exhibition was this album.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I’m completely honest it started as a fantasy\u2026 we were in a meeting and I just said, \u2018We should get that Wu-Tang CD\u2019, and everyone went \u2018Yeah. Lol\u2019,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

After years of negotiation, fans from all over the globe have now flocked to Mona to hear a 36-minute sample of the album, curated especially by Wu-Tang Clan producer Cilvaringz.<\/p>\n

What can the few dozen people who scored tickets to the uber-exclusive listening parties expect? Mr Rawlins teases a Cher cameo \u2013 his favourite bit \u2013 but otherwise is tight-lipped.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more we know about this album, and the more people out there know, the less magical it becomes,\u201d he insists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the fans are as excited about not being able to hear it\u2026 as they are about being able to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But somewhat ironically, the week that Namedropping opens, news breaks that the company loaning the album is suing its previous owner \u2013 disgraced \u201cpharma bro\u201d Martin Shkreli \u2013 for allegedly making digital copies.<\/p>\n

He was forced to hand over the album to US prosecutors in 2018 \u2013 three years after purchasing it \u2013 after being convicted of defrauding investors.<\/p>\n

It was bought by digital art collective Pleasr for a rumoured $4m (A$6m; \u00a33.2m), value they\u2019re trying to preserve by making Shkreli destroy his bootleg files.<\/p>\n

Since 2015, fans have heard snippets of the mysterious music \u2013 from potential buyers treated to a 13-minute segment when it was first released, to the handful of times Shkreli streamed scraps on YouTube, and now a five-minute clip which the public can buy for a single dollar.<\/p>\n

But never this much of it. <\/p>\n

As I queue up for my listening session, a contract demanding that I don\u2019t record it is thrust into my hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour obligations under this agreement start on your entry to Once Upon a Time in Shaolin and continue for the remainder of your life or until 2103, whichever occurs first,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n

And when we reach Mona\u2019s Frying Pan Studio itself, I realise the jokes I\u2019ve been hearing about metal detectors are not jokes at all.<\/p>\n

One by one, we\u2019re asked to take off our coats, ditch our bags, and empty our pockets, before we are diligently scanned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ABCABC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

One dedicated fan being screened<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Walking into the dimly lit, wood-panelled room the air feels charged \u2013 but that could be the storm sounds playing over the speakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreen tea on the left,\u201d a staff member tells me.<\/p>\n

In the middle of the room, under a spotlight, is a PlayStation One sitting atop a round yellow table.<\/p>\n

Weaving between pleather bean bags \u2013 also yellow \u2013 to plonk himself in the front row is a man wearing merch from a Wu-Tang 25th anniversary concert at the Sydney Opera House six years ago. He\u2019s with his partner, who I later catch mid bean-bag-boogie. I make a mental note to find them later.<\/p>\n

As I take my seat in a black wiry chair, I clock several security guards.<\/p>\n

A gong rings, and then silence, as a man with gloved hands walks to the front of the room. Swinging his arm in an exaggerated arch, he presses a button on the PlayStation, and then slips the CD inside. In equally dramatic measure, he picks up the controller and hits play.<\/p>\n

A member of the group \u2013 I\u2019ve not studied hard enough to work out which \u2013 tells us to \u201csit back, relax\u2026 and listen\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe saga continues,\u201d he says, as they launch into the first song.<\/p>\n

It has oddly soothing choir-like backing vocals, but as the minutes tick by, they give way to significantly less soothing seagulls and sirens. I hear the staccato of actual gunshots alongside synth piano, strings that would be at home in a dramatic James Bond score and a riff by some brass instrument which I\u2019ll spend days trying to get out of my head.<\/p>\n

Formed in Staten Island in the early 90s, Wu-Tang Clan is famous for a unique flavour of hip-hop which revolutionised the genre<\/a> – but they\u2019re also known for their violent and sexually explicit lyrics.<\/p>\n

This record is no different.<\/p>\n

Inside the leather-bound lyric book that accompanies the physical album you\u2019d find plenty of references to sex and marijuana, and the classic Wu-Tang themes of money and toil, youth and crime are ever-present.<\/p>\n

And on the topic of namedropping, everyone from Tommy Hilfiger and Tina Turner to Rapunzel and Harry Potter gets a shout out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Mona\/JesseMona\/Jesse Hunniford<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A close up of the leather lyric book<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Behind the glass at the control deck, technicians are mixing the music live \u2013 adjusting the levels for each song\u2019s attributes. One man looks over their shoulders approvingly, bobbing his head like a rhythmically talented chicken.<\/p>\n

Here on my side of the divide, some people reverently sit with their eyes closed while others stare at the ceiling. Many tap fingers on their cups of cold tea.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, the gloved man is back. He again walks to the front of the room in silence. Removing the CD, he slips it into a nondescript plastic case and walks to a safe, flanked by security guards.<\/p>\n

When the album is safely locked inside, there\u2019s a smattering of applause, and everyone files out of the room.<\/p>\n

Initially, I\u2019m overwhelmed. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever heard so many words in my life. I feel like I\u2019ve been assaulted by a dictionary.<\/p>\n

I have just as many questions walking out of the studio as I had going in \u2013 maybe more. Was that a flute? In a rap song? What exactly was the message of the lyrics? Who was singing what?<\/p>\n

And most importantly, where was the Cher cameo I was promised?! Was the curator messing with me?<\/p>\n

I ask some of the journalists I\u2019m with if they heard her. We all look confused. \u201cMaybe she was on keys?\u201d I say.<\/p>\n

I single out Wu-Tang Merch man, whose real name is Al Maguire. But if you think he\u2019s buzzing now, you should have seen him in the moments before the \u201cfunky tunes\u201d rang out.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I felt] like I needed to pee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first three minutes I was just trying not to cry.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s already sad he won\u2019t hear it again, he says.<\/p>\n

Superfan Jenna Willson is similarly emotional when I catch her, decked out literally head to toe in Wu-Tang tributes.<\/p>\n

She gallantly takes off her jacket in single digit weather to show me a tattoo on the back of her neck, a t-shirt from the Opera House show that apparently everyone here but me attended, and then the pi\u00e8ce de resistance \u2013 Wu-Tang Clan crocs which she wore to her wedding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Jenna<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Jenna Willson…<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

and her fancy footwear<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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\u201cI don’t know how everybody was just sitting down, nodding their heads. I was about to lose it. It was so good\u2026 Classic Wu-Tang.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another man I stop isn\u2019t feeling chatty. He admits to feeling a little like an imposter \u2013 something I find relatable. He says he\u2019s not even really a Wu-Tang fan.<\/p>\n

Lateisha Canning, though, will happily admit why she\u2019s here.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could say bragging rights,\u201d the 21-year-old tells me as she lines up with her partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know anything about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time I see them on the way out, Wu-Tang has two new fans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Australian<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Briggs gave the album a thumbs up<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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But if anyone is qualified to offer a review, it is self-described \u201cinternational heartthrob and agitator\u201d \u2013 better known as Australian rap heavyweight, Briggs.<\/p>\n

His verdict? \u201cIt\u2019s a very cinematic record. The production was cool. Great verses.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explains Wu-Tang Clan was a big part of his childhood and their influence wove its way into his artistry \u2013 he feels like he\u2019s been part of hip-hop history just by listening.<\/p>\n

Asked what he thinks should happen to the album now, he laughs. \u201cI don\u2019t care what happens now, I\u2019ve heard it. You can do whatever you want.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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6 hours ago By\u00a0Tiffanie Turnbull,\u00a0in Hobart, Australia Mona\/Jesse Hunniford Once Upon a Time in Shaolin housed in a silver box on display in the museum Inside a delicately hand-carved silver box on display in an Australian museum lies the most exclusive, most valuable, and perhaps most infamous album in the world. And this weekend, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41],"tags":[6158,5636,698,1419],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36743"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36745,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36743\/revisions\/36745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}