PARK CITY, UTAH Jan. 24 (UPI) -- The Disciple, which premiered Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival, is a fascinating look at a unique chapter in music history. The release of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin made headlines in 2015 but there was more to the story.
Tarik Azzougarh idolized the Wu-Tang Clan and became the rapper Cilvaringz. He got a chance to rap with them on stage after they pulled him up from the crowd at a concert.
Then he discovered Shabbazz the Disciple's phone number listed on his 12" vinyl single and got in touch. This led to real collaborations as Shabbazz was already in with the Clan. Cilvaringz toured with Wu-Tang as an opening act.
With Napster and eventually streaming music hurting album sales, Cilvaringsz had the idea to treat an album like a piece of art. Make only one copy and sell it to a collector.
The documentary details exactly how this would work. The contract had an 88-year commercial exclusivity clause so the buyer couldn't make copies, though they even had a backdoor plan to leak the album if nobody bought it.
