The Wu-Tang Clan has already received a $5 million offer for their one-off LP, 'The Wu-Once Upon A Time In Shaolin'.
The group will only press one copy of the album, which will be sold to the highest bidder. They won't make it available digitally. It'll be left up to whoever purchases the sole copy to decide whether they want to share the audio with the world.
The album was recorded in secret over the last six years and produced by Morocco's Tarik Cilvaringz Azzougarh. Comprised of 31 tracks (it's actually a double album), it will be sold in an engraved nickel-and-silver box created by British-Moroccan artist Yahya.
"Somebody offered $5 million yesterday," Wu-Tang leader RZA told Billboard. "So far, $5 million is the biggest number. I don't know to measure it, but it gives us an idea that what we're doing is being understood by some.
"And there are some good peers of mine also, who are very high-ranking in the film business and the music business, sending me a lot of good will. It's been real positive."
Before they sell it off, the group plans to take the album on tour — literally. They want to take the sole copy of the album and play it at museums around the world (London's Tate Modern is a hotly tipped venue).
"The main theme is music being accepted and respected as art and being treated as such," RZA told Billboard. "If something is rare, it's rare. You cannot get another."
In theory, since the group are leaving the distribution of the album to the discretion of the purchaser, a record label could buy it and release it through the usual channels. Stay tuned.
