Key Takeaways
- Method Man praised Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin after hearing it for the first time, saying, “I don’t hate it” and predicting people will love the album.
- Despite criticizing its release strategy in the past, he credited Cilvaringz’s RZA-inspired production and called the album “a valid piece of art.”
- PleasrDAO, which bought the one-copy album in 2021 after the government seized it from Martin Shkreli, arranged the listening session through the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast.
Method Man finally had a chance to hear Wu-Tang Clan’s one copy-only album for the first time, and we got to hear a sneak peek.
Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin has been a topic of conversation for more than a decade, because fans weren't supposed to hear it for 88 years. Originally envisioned as a museum piece, the project was auctioned off to pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli for $2 million, but he eventually lost ownership of it when it was seized by the government in a securities fraud case.
The project was auctioned by the government and eventually sold to digital art collective PleasrDAO in 2021, and the group, who listened to the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, decided to hold a listening session with Method Man after learning of host Pablo Torre’s friendship with him.
On a new episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, Method Man gave his thoughts about the project that he’s been very critical of in the past because of its release strategy. Despite his past criticisms, Method Man had a few good things to say about the project.
“I could see why people will like this album, and I could see why people will love this album,” Method Man said (around 35 minutes in). “I don’t hate it.”
The legendary rapper also complimented producer Cilvaringz’s contribution to the project, saying, “The production is on par with some of the stuff that RZA used to do back in the day … I’m gonna give him his props on this one. And I’m gonna validate, this is a valid piece of art right here.”
Check out Method Man’s comments on Once Upon a Time in Shaolin below.
In other news related to Wu-Tang Clan’s mysterious album that the general public still hasn’t had a chance to fully hear, the project is at the center of a new Netflix documentary called The Disciple that came out on Oct. 16.
Read our thoughts about Once Upon a Time in Shaolin from a 2024 listening session in New York City.
