Martin Shkreli Premieres Part of $2 Million Wu-Tang Clan Album Online
Wu-Tang Clan fans have been given a preview of the one-of-a-kind album the hip-hop group auctioned off for $2 million last year.
Controversial pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli purchased the rare Once Upon a Time in Shaolin project, but last month, he vowed to release it to the public for free if Republican candidate Donald Trump won the race to the White House.
He also revealed he would be sharing other previously unreleased tracks by Nirvana and The Beatles in the event of a Trump victory.
The property mogul and reality star stunned supporters and critics alike early on Wednesday when he beat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, and now Shkreli has started to make good on his promise.
After the result was confirmed, he started to premiere some of the songs online by live-streaming Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
It’s not clear when Shkreli will unveil the rest of the music.
The Wu-Tang Clan sold off the exclusive album in November 2015, but the identity of the buyer wasn’t made public until after the sale, when Shkreli revealed himself as the new owner to Bloomberg Businessweek magazine.
The drug entrepreneur had hit headlines just weeks earlier after he was widely condemned for raising the price of AIDS medication from $13.50 to $750 per pill, and after his identity came to light, Wu-Tang producer/rapper RZA announced they would be donating a portion of the profits to a good cause.
“The sale of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was agreed upon in May, well before Martin Skhreli’s (sic) business practices came to light,” RZA wrote in an email to Bloomberg Businessweek. “We decided to give a significant portion of the proceeds to charity.”
