Method Man has finally heard Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the elusive Wu-Tang Clan record whose restricted release helped make it a music-industry controversy. His reaction was more generous than his earlier public criticism. A listening session organized through journalist Pablo Torre allowed the rapper to assess an album built partly from performances he had contributed without hearing the finished work.
Consequence and Rolling Stone described the encounter as part of Pablo Torre Finds Out. Torre's effort to arrange the meeting grew out of an earlier appearance by Method Man, and a connection with the group now holding the record made access possible. The podcast used selected snippets rather than broadcasting the entire album.
The Long Dispute Over a Singular Record
The project, assembled by producer Cilvaringz with RZA's involvement, drew sharp reactions because it existed as a single-copy release rather than a conventional album distributed to listeners. Method Man had objected to that structure, to the long restriction on public listening and to his lack of clarity about how his recorded verses would be used.
The record first went to Martin Shkreli in a transaction Rolling Stone valued at $2 million. It was later seized by the federal government, and the arts collective PleasrDAO acquired it for $4 million in 2021. Those ownership changes added another chapter to a story in which access to the music has often attracted as much attention as the music itself.
A participant associated with PleasrDAO connected Torre to the organization after hearing about his interest in arranging the playback. Rolling Stone reported that the broader public still had not heard the full work, despite limited opportunities for listening and the sharing of short excerpts.
A More Nuanced Response
After hearing the material, Method Man credited the quality of his fellow performers and said Cilvaringz had achieved a production style that recalled RZA's work. He also found some stretches overly long and remained unhappy with the way the project had originally been put together. Rolling Stone quoted his concise verdict: “I don’t hate it.”
The response did not amount to an endorsement of every decision behind the album. Method Man continued to distinguish the artistic result from the process that had left him feeling excluded from decisions about his own contribution. Consequence reported that he felt a better understanding of the concept would have changed how much effort he invested.
The episode leaves that tension unresolved while adding a new perspective from a central performer. It also changes the conversation about the record: someone who had forcefully rejected the release model can now criticize the circumstances of its creation while still finding merit in what was recorded.
Reporting sources: Consequence, “Method Man Reacts to Once Upon a Time in Shaolin for First Time: “I Don’t Hate It”” · Music News, “Method Man Hears Wu-Tang Clan’s One-Copy-Only Album for First Time: ‘I Don’t Hate It’”.