As Martin Shkreli, the former hedge fund manager, is sentenced to prison in a U.S. District Court on Friday for defrauding investors, hip-hop fans are wondering about the fate of the sole copy of the Wu-Tang Clan’s album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.” Shkreli won a $2 million bid to purchase the one-of-a-kind album in 2015, which was seized by the federal government following his arrest.
However, one of the original nine members of Wu-Tang, U-God, had some choice words for Shkreli, a former drug company CEO.
“He’s a cocky motherfucker,” U-God told the Washington Examiner. “That’s all I know. His shit don’t stink.”
U-God, born Lamont Hawkins, continued to say that he had absolutely no say with respect to the album getting into Shkreli’s hands.
“I had no idea what was going on until it hit the fan. I don’t know this dude from a hole in the ground,” U-God vented. “I’m kind of upset the feds got our record because now if we want our record back we gotta go see the feds.”
“[The feds] have been waiting to try to get us cornered for years,” he joked.
When asked what will it take for the album to get back in the group’s hands, U-God said, “Nah, it’s not going to take much litigation. It’s illegal! They don’t have the rights to have that. And plus, we didn’t get any of that money … So, that whole thing is void.”
He went on to say that anything in court is going to be as contentious as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign.
“We’re gonna have to get in front of a judge and figure it out. But it’s gonna be as sloppy as […] [Robert] Mueller and them. It’s gonna be pissing me off.”
Siraj Hashmi is a commentary video editor and writer for the Washington Examiner.
