Wu-Tang's 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin': A FOIA Lawsuit Uncovers Album's Secret Sale

The Enigmatic 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin'

• 💡 The Wu-Tang Clan's album, 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,' was conceived as a singular artifact, with only one copy ever produced, intended to restore value to music through scarcity.
• 🚀 The album's creation was a shadow operation, with its details known only to RZA and the producer, excluding even other Wu-Tang members.
• 🔒 Its sale came with strict conditions: the buyer was bound by an oath of silence, and the album was not to be released publicly for 88 years.

Martin Shkreli and Government Seizure

• 💰 The album gained notoriety when it was purchased by Martin Shkreli, the "pharma bro" infamous for drastically increasing prescription drug prices.
• ⚖️ Following Shkreli's conviction for securities fraud, the government seized the album as part of an asset forfeiture to pay restitution to victims.
• 🖼️ The album's journey continued as it was seized by the federal government and held in a vault for approximately two years.

FOIA Request and Legal Battle

• 🔍 Investigative journalist Jason Leopold filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the DOJ criminal division to uncover details of the album's sale.
• 🏛️ When the government's response was slow, attorney Matt Topic initiated a lawsuit to compel the release of records, including the bill of sale, contract, photos, and communications.
• 📸 The initial batch of released records included photos of the album, revealing a cedarwood box containing a nickel silver box with two CDs and a leather-bound lyric book.

Unredacted Details and Sale Price

• 📄 The government initially redacted the purchase price, citing trade secret exemptions, but the New York Times later reported the album was sold to Pleaser Dao for $4 million in cryptocurrency.
• 🤝 Through negotiations, the government agreed to release the corporate entity's name and the purchase price if the individual buyer's name was not pursued.
• 💰 In July 2021, the asset purchase agreement revealed the album was sold for $2,238,482.30 to WTC Endeavor Limited, a Hong Kong company, with an additional $7,162.70 in expenses, totaling $2,245,644.57.

The Album's Current Status and FOIA's Power

• 🌐 WTC Endeavor Limited, the purchasing entity, was incorporated in Hong Kong and later dissolved.
• 🎶 The current owner, Pleaser Dao, found a workaround by turning the album into an NFT, allowing fans to listen to a sampler, with each sale speeding up the album's public release.
• ✊ The FOIA process, despite its challenges with redactions and delays, ultimately uncovered crucial details about the album's sale, demonstrating the power of public records requests in holding government accountable.