Method Man has finally heard the completed version of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, years after recording and submitting his own contributions to the one-of-one album.

The first listen took place during the Friday, Oct. 16, episode of Pablo Finds Out. The show brought a select group of people, including Method Man, to Brooklyn for a playback of the 31-track double album, which Wu-Tang recorded between 2007 and 2013.

Method Man emerged with a measured assessment, praising several performances and producer Cilvaringz’s work while also identifying moments he felt were overly long or too closely modeled on RZA’s sound.

“I can see why people would like it. I can see why some people would love it,” he said. “For me, it had a few nostalgic moments on there. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

He added that Cilvaringz was “emulating RZA’s sound as much as possible,” at times becoming “a little mimicky.” His overall conclusion, however, was clear: “All in all, I do not hate this album.”

Method Man offers praise — and one Raekwon critique

Cilvaringz, described as a Wu-Tang superfan who became a producer, oversaw production on the album. The project features Wu-Tang Clan alongside contributions from Redman and Cher.

Method Man said the producer succeeded with many of the tracks and praised how his fellow performers sounded. He also singled out one appearance that did not work for him.

“My guys sounded really good,” he said, before adding that Raekwon “could’ve stayed off the last joint” because it was “not his pace.”

Still, Method Man returned to his positive points, saying Cilvaringz’s production was comparable to some of RZA’s earlier work. “I could see why people would love this album,” he said. “Cilvaringz did his thing with this album.”

The episode also gives the public a brief taste of Method Man’s own work on the closely guarded recording. At approximately the 39-minute mark, a snippet includes his verse: “Never tell on your team or take shorts when you’re selling the beans/ Catch a body that’s a felony thing and every dream starts with C.R.E.A.M. that’s on everything.”

A complicated journey between owners

Method Man acknowledged going into the listening session with a “chip on his shoulder” because of the album’s tangled public history. He nevertheless said he tried not to let that history shape his judgment before hearing the finished work.

“We found out that album ain’t as bad as I expected it to be,” he concluded.

Wu-Tang created Once Upon a Time in Shaolin as a one-of-one work of fine art rather than a conventional commercial release, an approach intended to challenge the music industry’s status quo.

Former pharmaceutical executive and hedge-fund manager Martin Shkreli purchased the album for $2 million at a 2015 auction. The deal barred him from commercially distributing it for 88 years, through 2103.

Shkreli became publicly known as “Pharma bro” amid scrutiny over a 5,000 percent drug-price increase. He was arrested for securities fraud in 2015 and later sentenced to seven years in prison. The federal government seized Once Upon a Time in Shaolin as part of a $7.3 million judgment.

In 2021, art and crypto collective PleasrDAO bought the album from the U.S. government for a reported $4 million, with the sale helping satisfy the judgment against Shkreli.

RZA has said that Shkreli’s involvement now has to be accepted as part of the project’s history, despite its negative dimensions.

“Yes, to be honest,” RZA told People when asked whether he accepted that chapter as part of the album’s lore. “Even though it’s negative, you got to accept that.”

The album returns to the spotlight

Method Man’s first full listen comes as Once Upon a Time in Shaolin receives renewed attention through the Netflix documentary The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable. The film premiered Friday and takes viewers behind the album’s creation with Cilvaringz.

That renewed focus brings the project’s unusual path back into view: six years of recording, a 31-track finished album, a multimillion-dollar auction and subsequent government seizure, followed by its purchase by PleasrDAO.

ShowBiz Take

Method Man’s reaction matters because it is not simply an outside review. He performed on Once Upon a Time in Shaolin without hearing how the full double album ultimately came together, making this listening session a rare assessment from one of its own contributors.

His verdict is neither an unqualified endorsement nor a dismissal. He questioned parts of the production, felt some sections ran long and challenged one of Raekwon’s appearances, yet repeatedly emphasized that he could understand the album’s appeal. After years in which the project’s ownership story often dominated discussion, Method Man’s first listen shifts attention back to the music itself.