The Wu-Tang Clan's unprecedented plan to produce just a single copy of its new double album in order to increase its value is off to a flying start.
According to RZA, the group has already received seven-figure offers for the one-off 31-track record, called The Wu - Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
"Offers came in at $2 million, somebody offered $5 million yesterday," RZA said.
"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," the rapper (real name Robert Diggs) added.
"I don't know how to measure it, but it gives us an idea that what we're doing is being understood by some. It's been real positive," RZA added.
"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."
The ambitious New York hip hop crew came up with the idea for their long-awaited album to be treated like a collector's item and remind the industry that music is art.
Packaged in a one-off silver-nickel case, the album will tour festivals, museums and galleries (with patrons paying to hear it and tight security so it couldn't be copied).
Wu-Tang then plans to auction it to the highest bidder, hopefully for millions, thus placing a contemporary musical work alongside expensive contemporary art.
The album concept is explained at length on the project website.
"Mass production and content saturation have devalued both our experience of music and our ability to establish its value," a statement on the site read.
"Industrial production and digital reproduction have failed."
"The intrinsic value of music has been reduced to zero [whereas] contemporary art is worth millions by virtue of its exclusivity. This album is a piece of contemporary art.
"The debate starts here."
So far, there is little debate that this ambitious project is an awesome idea, with million-dollar offers and a whole lot of impressed buzz to prove it.
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