How The Worlds of Hip Hop, Wu-Tang Clan and Martin Shkreli Intertwined
Everything you need to know about the Wu war with Shkreli.
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The Grinch Who Bought Hip Hop's Secret Album - You may have heard Martin Shkreli's name in the media a lot after he purchased Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album. If your world revolves around hip hop, he abruptly interjected himself and now he's like the pest that won't go away. Shkreli is a pharmaceuticals CEO and it also seems like he's a huge fan of rap. He's also a rapper who's releasing an album in 2016. His actions in the past few months have been anything but for the love of hip hop. Which makes us wonder, how and when did Wu-Tang get tangled in this mess with Shkreli and is Shkreli really looking out for the future of rap? — Janice Llamoca and Jon Reyes(Photos from left: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts, Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage)
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March 2014: Wu-Tang Clan Announce Once Upon a Time in Shaolin - It’s also revealed that there will be only ONE copy of the secret double album. According to RZA, the plan for the one-of-a-kind opus is for the art to tour as an exhibit in museums. According to Forbes, “there’s also the possibility that a wealthy private citizen could buy it and… keep the album.” Why did you have to put that into the universe, Forbes?! (Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella)
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April 2014: Once Upon a Time in Shaolin Worth $5 Million? - RZA told Billboard that he had offers for $2 million and that one person offered $5 million.(Photo: Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic,)
Photo By Photo: Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic
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May 2014: 51 Seconds of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin Released - Forbes traveled 3,500 miles from NYC to Marrakech, Morocco, to listen to 51 seconds of Wu-Tang's secret album. But you can listen to it here.(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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September 2014: Martin Shkreli Voted Out as Retrophin’s CEO - The future owner of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin has a rocky time in business.(Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Photo By Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
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December 2014: Skrillex Rumored to Have Bought Album - There was a rumor going around that Skrillex bought the album. It was a nice thought until Billboard confirmed that it was, in fact, not true.(Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Samsung)
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March 2015: The 88-Year Clause - First, we discover that Wu-Tang has a top-secret album and then we discover that we may not be able to stream it on Apple Music it for 88 years. According to the clause, the album can not be commercially sold for 88 years, but it may be given for free if the owner decides so.(Photo: Ollie Millington/Redferns via Getty Images)
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May 2015: Once Upon a Time in Shaolin Officially Has an Owner - But who could it be? Technically, the public doesn’t find out about the sale until the end of 2015. In an e-mail to Bloomberg Businessweek, RZA writes, “The sale of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was agreed upon in May…” BETRAYAL.(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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September 2015: Shkreli Raises Price of AIDS Drug - It's really easy to become the "most hated man in America" when you hike the price of a single pill by 5000 percent, from $13 to $750. After Retrophin, Shkreli went on to become the CEO and founder of Turing Pharmaceuticals.(Photo: Paul Martinka / Splash News)
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November 2015: Shkreli Looks for Hot Beats - Martin Shkreli puts out a request for some good production. We know he's a fan of hip hop or maybe just a fan of its culture, but it looks like he's trying out his hand at rapping. (Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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November 2015: Shkreli Looks for a Hot Feature - Still waiting on the single.(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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November 2015: Shkreli Gives in to Priorities, Puts Passion Project Aside - The beginning and the end of this album happened in one month. Life as a pharmaceuticals CEO shouldn’t be so rough. *Inspectah Deck voice*(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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December 2015: Shkreli Hires Fetty Wap for a Private Performance - He tells Bloomberg Businessweek, “Typically you would say, ‘As an average fan, I can’t get Fetty Wap to give me a personal concert.’ The reality is sure you could. You know, at the right price these guys basically will do anything.” Fetty Wap performed at Turing’s Christmas party. Price unknown.(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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December 2015: Shkreli Revealed as Once Upon a Time in Shaolin Buyer - Bloomberg Businessweek claims that Wu-Tang sold him the album for $2 million.(Photo Credit: JB NICHOLAS / Splash News)
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December 2015: Shkreli Trolls Music Fans - Money does not buy you love, but it can buy you one-of-a-kind albums. For a second, Waves could have been in trouble.(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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December 2015: RZA Calls for Bill Murray - It turned out to be a hoax, but it was pretty glorious. The supposed contract read that the seller may attempt to execute one heist to steal the album and it can only be done by Wu-Tang members and/or the actor Bill Murray.(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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December 2015: Shkreli Reveals Upcoming Album in 2016 - Spoiler alert. He will find a rapper to beef with.(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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December 2015: Love and Hip Hop - Those No. 1 hits were all produced by DJ Mustard. Ha. No but really, it's all for the love.(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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December 2015: Bill Murray Is Coming After Shkreli - The joke is a day old at this point. But adding "changing rap history" to your resume doesn't sound like a bad idea. Right, Bill?(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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December 2015: Shkreli Continues Trolling Music Fans - Money does not buy you happiness, but it could get you a preview of unreleased Tupac songs. Let's just pretend this will never happen.(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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December 2015: Shkreli Plans to Bail out Bobby Shmurda - In an interview with HipHopDX, Shkreli said, "Shmurda reminds me of me." Now it all makes sense. Shkreli would never keep himself in jail, either.(Photos from left: Bennett Raglin/BET/Getty Images for BET, Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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December 2015: Shkreli Arrested on Fraud Charges, Posts Bail - Fitting his bad boy image, Shkreli gets arrested for securities fraud charges and later frees himself on a $5 million bond. Money doesn't buy love or happiness, but it certainly keeps you out of jail. Side note: Last time I checked, Shmurda is still behind bars.(Photo: JB NICHOLAS / Splash News)
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December 21 2015: Wu-Tang Album Could Be Set Free - Sources following Shkreli's arrest reveal that the Wu-Tang album could be seized if they discover that any of the $65 million worth in securities fraud was used to purchase the album.(Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
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January 2016: Ghostface Killah Calls Shkreli a 'S**thead' - Ghostface is outspokenly not a fan of Shkreli for his price hike of the AIDS drug and for hogging Once Upon a Time in Shaolin all to himself.(Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella)
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January 2016: Shkreli Responds to Ghostface Killah - Remember that rap beef he was looking for? He found it.(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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January 2016: Ghostface Killah Responds to Martin Shkreli - Shkreli found the wrong person to beef with. Ghost isn't about to respond to a diss over Twitter. That's what TMZ is for. "I'll break your heart in four days," he says.(Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for SXSW)
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January 2016: Shkreli Threatens to Ruin Wu-Tang Album - Ghost is not writing a 500-word apology letter.(Photo: Martin Shkreli via Twitter)
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January 2016: Ellie Goulding Gets Involved - British pop star Ellie Goulding has never jumped into any kind of beef. But as a fan of music, she has every right to be mad. How dare Shkreli make someone with an ethereal singing voice like Ellie Goulding upset. His response to her: "Chill bae." Oh, OK Shkrellix.(Photo: Ellie Goulding via Twitter)
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February 2016: Shkreli Continues His Press Run for His Rap Beef - Martin Shkreli went on Power 105.1's morning show, The Breakfast Club, and said, "If [Ghostface Killah] were here right now, I'd smack him right in the face." He's talking crazy.(Photo: Power 105.1)
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February 2016: Shkreli Can No Longer Speak to the Media - You know it's bad when your lawyer has to tell you to shut up. On February 3, Shkreli's new lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, ordered him to stop talking to the media. His next court date is May 3. (Photo: AP Photo/Seth Wenig)