Back in 2015, it was a true travesty when odious hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli bought literally the only copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album. 

Now, the U.S. government has released new photos of the special album, as well as the bill of sale and other crucial details. BuzzFeed News obtained a series of documents relating to the album thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The reason given for their redaction was that these items amounted to “trade secrets.”

That resulted in a massive 67 pages of documentation being shared by the U.S. Marshals Service, although sadly the actual recordings are still absent due to them not being reproducible.

There’s still plenty to intrigue though. Previously unreleased images of the album in CD form are included, as are song titles and a 175-page lyric book.

An asset list from a July 2021 purchase agreement is also included. It outlines the album as containing audio recording on two CDs, an outer box made of cedar wood and covered in black cow leather with a light beige velvet lining, an inner box made of nickel-silver with an inner CD case and a cedar wood backing with leather lining, a leather-bound lyric book featuring photos and artwork, a leather folder with a gold-leafed authenticity certificate, and a leather folder featuring the purchase agreement.

It’s the latest development in a long-running saga. Wu-Tang‘s special album was purchased in 2015 by an anonymous buyer who was later revealed to be “Pharma Bro” Shkreli, to the dismay of fans. Following Shkhreli’s conviction for fraud in 2018, the album was seized by a federal court. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sold it to NFT collectors PleasrDAO, who said they hope to make it more widely accessible.

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