Method Man hears Wu-Tang Clan's one-of-a-kind album for the first time

Method Man has heard Wu-Tang Clan's one-of-a-kind album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” for the first time, at a private Brooklyn listening session held by journalist Pablo Torre for his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, according to Consequence. The episode features only snippets of the record. The session came together after digital artist Emily Yang (pplpleasr) connected Torre with PleasrDAO, the collective that now owns the album.

The project was masterminded by producer Cilvaringz (Tarik Azzougarh), who assembled verses the group's members recorded separately. It was first owned by Martin Shkreli; in 2021 PleasrDAO bought it for $4 million after the US federal government seized it. The collective presented it at a museum exhibition in Tasmania and then, in 2024, released it as an NFT. In 2015 Method Man had blasted the project in XXL after learning of its 88-year copyright.

After the listen, the rapper said he does not hate the album and that Cilvaringz “did an excellent job”, though he found it long at times and close to mimicking RZA's sound. He praised his bandmates' verses, joking that Raekwon could have stayed off the last track. He still said he felt “robbed” of the chance to put in more effort, calling the process one of false pretenses. On his bandmates, he said they still respect each other and call each other brothers.

Method Man is an American rapper and actor, born in 1971 in Hempstead. His newest studio album is “Meth Lab Season 3: The Rehab” (2022), according to MusicBrainz.