Music

The Internet Is Rallying Behind Bill Murray To Steal Back Wu-Tang Clan’s $2 Million Album

This is what happens when one guy makes a good joke on Twitter.

by Meg Watson  11 December 2015

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

Okay. Let’s take a step back from whatever madness is unfolding before us for one second and grab some important context.

Wu-Tang Clan has had a rumoured secret album in the works for more than two decades now and its legend has only become more intriguing with age. Last year the rap group announced they would only be releasing one copy of the 31-track LP in an attempt to re-establish the sanctity and prestige of music. Backups and digital files had been destroyed. Once Upon A Time In Shaolin would be sold for a hefty price to one bidder and its contents would be tightly controlled by copyright for the next 88 years.

This year the album sold. A statement posted on the website specifically created for the work reported that an anonymous buyer at the New York auction house had purchased it for a sum in the millions “making it the single most expensive musical work ever sold in the history of music”. It was encased in carved nickel-silver and came with some ridiculously fancy speakers, a gold-leafed certificate of authenticity, and a 174-book of lyrics and stories about the songs. The music itself is reportedly in the group’s iconic ’90s style and features a bunch of guest performers including Cher. It’s the first commercial album to not be released to the public in history and, though its owner has the right to release it for free, it could theoretically only ever be heard by one person.

This week Bloomsberg revealed that person was Martin Shkreli: the notorious pharmaceutical CEO who this year raised the price of a life-saving AIDS and cancer medication from $13.50 per pill to $750. When approached for comment, RZA said they had agreed to the sale before they had known of his controversial business practices and decided to give a signifiant portion of the money he gave them to charity.

Shkreli — lovingly described by the publication as someone who “fiddles with his hair and squirms in his seat like an adolescent” — smarmily told Bloomsberg journalists he hadn’t even listened to the historic album yet was “going to kind of save [it] for a rainy day”.

He is one of the most hated men in the world right now.

This is where today’s news comes in. As the internet continued its outrage about the unjust purchase overnight, one Twitter user posted a passage of text that appeared to be a legal loophole in the contract.

“The seller may legally plan and attempt to execute one (1) heist or caper to steal back Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, which, if successful, would return all ownership rights to the seller,” it reads. “Said heist or caper can only be undertaken by currently active members of the Wu-Tang Clan and/or actor Bill Murray, with no legal repercussions.”

Naturally, people lost their fucking minds. The great news was reported by NME, Uproxx, Gizmodo, Metro and the Independent. It soon spread all over the world’s media, much to the surprise of the guy who originally posted it.

With no one getting any kind of actual verification from Wu-Tang or Shkreli, it’s pretty clear the post was just an excellent joke and most stories have now been amended. It’s a correction which is made all the more embarrassing by the frank admission their one source was someone who literally describes himself as “Some Guy On Twitter”.

Screen Shot 2015-12-11 at 9.19.55 am

Unfazed by the setback, everyone is now pushing for Murray to take up the challenge regardless.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and if anyone is able to get away with it, it’s Bill Motherfucking Ghostbusting Muray.

–