The Wu-Tang documentary is out, and RZA is explaining the part of the saga that still stings. Per HotNewHipHop (October 18), RZA told People he panicked when he learned Martin Shkreli was the buyer of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, and that he has accepted the outcome since.
What he said
HotNewHipHop reports that RZA asked, "Can we get out of it?" once he knew who the buyer was, and was told the contract was already signed. On where he landed, he said, "You got to accept that." The interview ties back to The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable, the Netflix documentary that premiered October 16. These quotes are as relayed by HotNewHipHop; we have not independently reviewed the People piece.
How the album got here
Shkreli bought the one-copy album in 2015. HotNewHipHop notes the Daraprim price controversy came after the deal, and that Shkreli later forfeited the album after his securities fraud conviction. It went to the U.S. Department of Justice and then to pleasrDAO, which has released parts of it slowly. HotNewHipHop's line about a commercial release "as soon as 2103" looks like a typo, and we are not repeating a date until it is confirmed.
The read
The story of the most expensive album ever sold was always about who gets to own Black art and who gets to hear it. RZA was selling a statement about scarcity to a buyer he did not choose, and a decade later the record sits in a collective's hands, played out in pieces. The doc puts that on a screen. The interview puts it in his words.
## Sources - HotNewHipHop, Oct. 18, 2026: RZA admits panic and acceptance over Martin Shkreli buying Wu-Tang Clan album - Sneakz & Beatz, Oct. 14, 2026: Wu-Tang's third Netflix documentary premieres Oct. 16