Once Upon a Time in Shaolin

The Untold Story of Wu-Tang Clan's Million Dollar Secret Album, the Deva

By: Cyrus Bozorgmehr

Write A Review

Paperback | 5 October 2017 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
232 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
2 x 13.6 x 21.5

Paperback

RRP $32.99

$30.25

or 4 interest-free payments of $7.56 with

or

Aims to ship in 5 to 10 business days

Take a kid with a dream. A legendary hip hop group. 6 years of secret recordings. A casing worthy of a king. A single artifact. Hallowed establishment institutions. An iconoclastic auction house. The world's foremost museum of modern art. A bidding war. Endless crises of conscience. An angry mob. A furious beef. A sale. A villain of Lex Luthor-like proportions. Bill Murray. The FBI. The internet gone wild.

In 2007, the innovative Wu-Tang Clan producer, Cilvaringz, feeling that digital downloads were threatening the music industry, took an incendiary idea to his mentor hip hop legend, RZA: create a unique physical copy of a secret Wu-Tang Clan album, to be encased in silver and sold through auction as a work of contemporary art. As such, it could never be commercialised - or pirated.

The plan raised a number of complex questions: Would selling one album for millions be the ultimate betrayal of rap music? Would hip hop fans support the project, even if it meant they could never buy the album? And could anyone justify the ultimate sale of the album to despised pharmaceutical mogul Martin Shkreli?

About the Author

Cyrus Bozorgmehr was the senior adviser on the Once Upon a Time in Shaolin project and worked alongside Wu-Tang Clans RZA and producer Cilvaringz. Born in England, he now lives in Marrakech, Morocco.

Industry Reviews

"An epic battle between colorful, creative maniacal heroes and one of the blandest beta-villains of our time. Couldn't put it down."
Patton Oswalt, comedian and bestselling author of Silver Screen Fiend

"[An] utterly candid work...Bozorgmehr's stirring account gives readers the insider's view of musical outlaws who possessed the best intentions of elevating hip-hop from its street moorings to more stylish, chic surroundings, and whose efforts exploded in a crisis of bad media coverage and soulless pharmaceutical drug merchants."
Publishers Weekly

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.