…or is The Abbot simply trying to raise demand?

The Wu-Tang Clan shocked the world last month with the announcement of The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, a 31-song record that will be released as an edition of one, taken on an art tour, and sold to the highest bidder. Expected to cost millions, Wu ringleader RZA says they might already have a buyer.

“Offers came in at $2 million, somebody offered $5 million yesterday,” he tells Billboard. “I’ve been getting a lot of emails: some from people I know, some from people I don’t know, and they’re also emailing other members of my organization.

“So far, $5 million is the biggest number… I don’t know how to measure it, but it gives us an idea that what we’re doing is being understood by some. And there are some good peers of mine also, who are very high-ranking in the film business and the music business, sending me a lot of good will. It’s been real positive.”

While it’s not unfathomable for someone to spend $5 million on a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang album, this could also be RZA just doing his due diligence to make sure demand is high. As FACT has documented, Once Upon A Time In Shaolin is just the latest in long line of absurdly limited releases.