Method Man Reveals Why Rare Wu-Tang Clan Album Is “Uncomfortable Subject” For Group ; Update : Cilvaringz Responding in Wu Tang Reddit

[LevelUp]

"Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album remained a sore subject for the group’s members. Method Man discussed his issues with the project in an interview with Vanity Fair. The legendary rapper admitted he and his fellow Wu-Tang members do their best to avoid the topic.

“I thought it was some circus spectacle,” Method Man said. “I never really spoke to RZA about it; it’s an uncomfortable subject to most of the guys, so we don’t really discuss it too much.”

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was spearheaded by Wu-Tang affiliate Cilvaringz. The album garnered significant publicity since only one copy was created. It was auctioned off for $2 million in 2015, making it the world’s most expensive album.

The infamous “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli bought Wu-Tang’s rare album. Terms of the deal prevented the project’s owner from releasing it to the public until October 2103. The U.S. government seized Once Upon a Time In Shaolin after Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud.

PleasrDAO purchased Once Upon a Time in Shaolin for $4 million in 2021. The new owner started selling access to the album as a $1 NFT in June. Fans did not receive the album in full as they were forced to settle for a sampler created by Cilvaringz. PleasrDAO claimed each $1 purchase would shave 88 seconds off the album’s 2103 release date.



Wu-Tang fans might balk at paying anything for the album because the Clan did not knowingly create Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Method Man and other members viewed the project as a glorified compilation concocted by Cilvaringz, not a legitimate Wu-Tang album.

“The process of the thing being made was never told to us,” Method Man explained to Vanity Fair. “We were never told what it was. It was never supposed to be a Wu-Tang album. We were recording and being paid to do a certain amount of records by a guy whose name I don’t want to mention.”

He continued, “[Cilvaringz] took all these verses—some of them were old verses—and put them altogether into a compilation of Wu-Tang songs and marketed it as a Wu-Tang album, and a single copy of a Wu-Tang album. We all had a problem with it because that’s not how it was described to us.”

PleasrDAO filed a lawsuit against Shkreli over Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in June. PleasrDAO accused the album’s former owner of violating a forfeiture order by retaining copies of the music."

Method Man Reveals Why Rare Wu-Tang Clan Album Is "Uncomfortable Subject" For Group

 

[Deltron]

fukk cilvaringz

 

[LevelUp]

fukk cilvaringz

All of this.

 

[DaveyDave]

Once I heard it was a Cilvaringz compilation type thing I didn’t really give a shyt about hearing it. That Cilvaringz album for years ago was pretty dope but outside of that I’ve heard he’s a shady/annoying muthafukka

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

fukk cilvaringz

Rza allowed for this to happen and benefited off of the sale too

 

[nieman]

Rza allowed for this to happen and benefited off of the sale too

In his defense, they would have too, IF they stayed under the umbrella.

 

[mbewane]

I hear all of that but as an MC do you not inquire first about what exactly you're working for first? Isn't there some legal paperwork that Meth signed or whatever that allowed Cilvaringz to then use his verses? Surely it's a scumbag move but there has to be some moment where he agreed to something, otherwise he would have a case to sue, right?

 

[Piff Perkins]

In his defense, they would have too, IF they stayed under the umbrella.

But that's not how music works. You don't get to buy verses from people, put an album together, and sell it without them being compensated with royalties. The entire thing was a sham and at this point the clan is prob tired of having legal disputes with RZA over bullshyt.

 

[King Poetic]

Got nikkas thinking that this album was some type one of god new material and u probably got nikkas verses from 92 and what ever throw away rhymes put together for songs

 

[KingsOfKings]

Got nikkas thinking that this album was some type one of god new material and u probably got nikkas verses from 92 and what ever throw away rhymes put together for songs

could be verses from when they had that big leak on wutangcorp

 

[MrRDU]

Rza allowed for this to happen and benefited off of the sale too

So no group members got a check except Rza?

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

So no group members got a check except Rza?

from my understanding, they were paid for their verses, but only Rza and Civilringz got paid off of the overall $2 million sale.

 

[nieman]

But that's not how music works. You don't get to buy verses from people, put an album together, and sell it without them being compensated with royalties. The entire thing was a sham and at this point the clan is prob tired of having legal disputes with RZA over bullshyt.

That's exactly how music works. They got paid for the verses, as it was a compilation. They got paid as they were doing a guest appearance on any of the other albums, DJ constructed albums etc. It's not even a group album per se. However, instead of Cilvaringz Presents, it became another "Wu-Tang" compilation, which needed RZA's blessing. The media doesn't even know the difference, so that's who ran with the "Wu-Tang album". Legendary Weapons, Chamber Music, Da Saga Continues all have the same "Wu-Tang" branding that they also don't receive royalties from. Hell, and only Da Saga Continues was being called a Wu-Tang album by the media, and that's just another Mathematics project. They just don't sell, so it doesn't matter. The group albums say "Wu-Tang Clan". It's a small but important distinction.

Bottom line, if they all decided to stay under the umbrella, they would've been paid, and still paid off ANYTHING W-related, and not just their own ventures, which is where all of this came from. Long-term, the logo was always gonna be bigger than the individuals.

Now RZA could've shut all of this down by explicitly stating that it was a compilation and not a Clan group album. Even, if he said something like this is a
"Wu-Tang Family album featuring the Clan plus our other affiliates." All he would say is that it "was put together by one of his students, then go off on a tangent about "being a piece of art." That would've brought down some of the attention it received, but also hurt his goal. However, RZA was also heavily promoting the actual group album of A Better Tomorrow during that time, so that was his main focus. They trashed that too, which would've put the necessary money in their pockets. They should've rode the wave until the album dropped, THEN said their peace. It wasn't until after A Better Tomorrow was released, that RZA really redirected his attention to auctioning off Once Upon a Time.

And how many of y'all REALLY want to hear the Killabeez Swarm Pt 4 album that Cilvaringz was talking about for 5 years, that has Shabazz the Disciple on 5 tracks according to the only tracklisting ever released?

 

[boskey]

But that's not how music works. You don't get to buy verses from people, put an album together, and sell it without them being compensated with royalties.

Doesn't this happen all the time? Pretty sure ODB didn't see any royalties from Mariah Carey's album either

 

[ReasonableMatic]

“I thought it was some circus spectacle,” Method Man said. “I never really spoke to RZA about it; it’s an uncomfortable subject to most of the guys, so we don’t really discuss it too much.”

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was spearheaded by Wu-Tang affiliate Cilvaringz. The album garnered significant publicity since only one copy was created. It was auctioned off for $2 million in 2015, making it the world’s most expensive album.

PleasrDAO purchased Once Upon a Time in Shaolin for $4 million in 2021. The new owner started selling access to the album as a $1 NFT in June. Fans did not receive the album in full as they were forced to settle for a sampler created by Cilvaringz. PleasrDAO claimed each $1 purchase would shave 88 seconds off the album’s 2103 release date.

Wu-Tang fans might balk at paying anything for the album because the Clan did not knowingly create Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Method Man and other members viewed the project as a glorified compilation concocted by Cilvaringz, not a legitimate Wu-Tang album.

“The process of the thing being made was never told to us,” Method Man explained to Vanity Fair. “We were never told what it was. It was never supposed to be a Wu-Tang album. We were recording and being paid to do a certain amount of records by a guy whose name I don’t want to mention.”

He continued, “[Cilvaringz] took all these verses—some of them were old verses—and put them altogether into a compilation of Wu-Tang songs and marketed it as a Wu-Tang album, and a single copy of a Wu-Tang album. We all had a problem with it because that’s not how it was described to us.”

Method Man Reveals Why Rare Wu-Tang Clan Album Is "Uncomfortable Subject" For Group

Cilvaringz is a Moroccan they gave access to

“Religious All Lives Matterism

”

Has a constant hierarchical outcome, be in denial of the obvious uncomfortable truth if u want Black man..