Ghostface Killah has said that he’d like controversial pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli to release one-of-a-kind album ‘Once Up A Time in Shaolin’, arguing the people should own the record.
Wu Tang Clan sold the album to Shkreli in December for $2 million, and no longer own the rights to the record.
Talking to TMZ, Ghostface Killah said “That shithead bought it, you know what I mean? You don’t take some aids pill [daraprim] that you have for seven dollars, and make it like eight hundred dollars. You don’t do that, I don’t care if you bought the Wu Tang whatever.”
“I don’t even know him.”, he continues. “When I heard what he did with the aids [drug]…. It’s out of my hands, man, you know what I mean? I want the owner [to be] the people. Of course [I’d like it out in public]. What are you going to hold it for 88 years for?”
Since buying the Wu Tang album, Martin Shkreli has been arrested for securities fraud.
GettyRaekwon had previously spoken out against the idea of making fans wait 88 years (the agreed period for non-sale following Shkreli’s buy), saying:
“Shit, 88 years is a long fucking time. That’s a long time for people to be able to hear it. That means we won’t be around. What the fuck do you want me to say? I don’t know what to say. I think at some point people do need to be able to hear it but you got to remember the concept of it was whatever it was, whoever buys it, it’s yours. You hang it up in your house and you do what you do.”
Clan member Method Man branded the plan “fucking stupid” in early 2015.
RZA has previously implied that Shkreli has the power to do what he wants to do with the record, however, saying:
“He bought it, he can do what he wants,” RZA said. “The beautiful thing about art, from my standpoint, is that it has no discrimination.”
“If Mr. Shkreli feels philanthropic, he has the power to do something really cool, you know what I mean? He could do something that would allow more people to hear the record.”
Just one copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s mysterious album, ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’, exists and it was sold to Shkreli at auction. The music allegedly cannot be released by its buyer for public consumption for 88 years.