Russell V
Last month, it was reported that Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, had been sold for “millions.” Bloomberg has revealed the buyer’s identity: Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli. Shkreli is the former hedge fund manager (and Collect Records associate) who made headlines this year for increasing the price of Daraprim—a drug used to treat AIDS and cancer patients—from $13.50 to $750. He reportedly paid $2 million for the album.
Now in an exclusive interview with HipHopDX, Shkreli revealed that he’s planning to bail out incarcerated Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda while also firing off some shots at RZA and the rap industry. Read more after the jump!
On Bobby Shmurda: “We’re actually in discussion to try to bail out Bobby Shmurda. Forget whether you think he’s guilty or not, the guy should not be sitting in jail right now. It’s insane. He’s from Brooklyn. I’m from Brooklyn. He deserves a fair trial. He deserves good lawyers. He doesn’t have good lawyers. His label is hanging him out to dry and so I have a conference call tomorrow morning with them (December 15). I’ll show up with $2 million bail money no fucking problem. He’s not going to flee the country. I’m not going to lose anything. I’m going to try to make that happen. That’s one thing I’m working on.”
On RZA: “I’ll have to look back at the agreement. I appreciate you asking that. I met the guy at the SOHO House. The place doesn’t impress me. The guy sits down. We talk for a half an hour. We didn’t really get to know each other in any way, shape or form. That’s why I said that we didn’t have much in common because we talked for maybe an hour. I’ve had meetings where I was supposed to be talking to someone for an hour and we end up talking for six hours because we’re so interested in what we have to say. We’ve all been there. That’s not what happened. Motherfucker came in. He was late. We sat-down for maybe 45 minutes at most. He left and was like, “Man, this is the man that needs to buy this album.” I’ve been behind a lot of deals. I know when I’m being bullshitted. You don’t have to fucking fake it. But I still wanted the album. We definitely didn’t have much in common. The guy is fucking full of himself, talking about how his shit is the best ever, how fucking Bobby Digital was the best shit ever. I wasn’t feeling him at all. I figured it was another arrogant rapper. How many of them do you need to meet?”
On playing Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album: “I’m not going to play it for no reason. If Taylor Swift wants to come over and suck my dick, I’ll play it for her. [Laughs]”
Source: HipHopDX
