Once upon a Time in Shaolin: The Untold Story of Wu-Tang Clan’s Million-Dollar Album, the Devaluation of Music, and America’s New Public Enemy No. 1

In this utterly candid work, Bozorgmehr, the senior adviser of the pioneering hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, recalls the evolution of the band’s controversial album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. He raises key questions of “the disposable product” in the current record industry, the years it takes to create a viable album, and trying to surface in an endless flood of music only to be “drowned in a sea of white noise.” Bozorgmehr is gracious in acknowledging the global success of Wu-Tang Clan, but somewhat conflicted in the marketing process around the RZA-blessed project of a sole copy of the silver-covered album, intended to be sold for millions. Bids poured in from high rollers, including a rich Nigerian offering millions in livestock, and the one-of-a-kind “piece of contemporary art” was brought by the infamous Martin Shkreli, whose company later incredibly hiked the cost of an essential AIDS drug. Bozorgmehr’s stirring account gives readers the insider’s view musical outlaws who possessed the best intentions of elevating hip-hop from its street moorings to more stylish, chic surroundings, and whose efforts exploded in a crisis of bad media coverage and soulless pharmaceutical drug merchants. (July)

This review has been corrected. A previous version of this review listed the author's first name incorrectly.