About the Author

CYRUS BOZORGMEHR was the senior adviser on the Once Upon a Time in Shaolin project and worked alongside Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and producer Cilvaringz. He lives in Marrakech, Morocco.

Reviews

Rolling Stone's Top Ten Best Music Books of 2017
Strategy+Business Best Narrative Business Book of the Year "A bombshell new book." --New York Daily News "An epic battle between colorful, creative maniacal heroes and one of the blandest beta-villains of our time. I couldn't put it down." --Patton Oswalt, comedian and bestselling author of Silver Screen Fiend

"The rollicking narrative of the rap group Wu-Tang Clan's notorious efforts to create an album that, rather than being mass marketed, would be valued like a work of art... But the book also invokes much deeper themes. It's about the group's efforts to rectify the fact that file-sharing and streaming business models have rendered it nearly impossible for most musicians to make money from their work." --Strategy+Business "Hold on tight...it's a rollercoaster.... Money, art, danger, intrigue, glamour. It's all here, and with Bozorgmehr by our side, we know we are going to experience it all.... [A] breakneck dive into a world we never thought we'd be privy to." --PopMatters "[An] utterly candid work...Bozorgmehr's stirring account gives readers the insider's view of musical outlaws who possessed the best intentions of elevating hip-hop from its street moorings to more stylish, chic surroundings, and whose efforts exploded in a crisis of bad media coverage and soulless pharmaceutical drug merchants." --Publishers Weekly

"[Bozorgmehr's] insider's knowledge of the process drives this fascinating story, full of suspense and surprises. A detailed, compelling look at of one of the music business' most interesting stories." --Booklist "A fantastic, gripping read from start to finish, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin takes us to the heart of the action and shows us what really went on behind closed doors with Wu Tang's most controversial album. A must-read for hip-hop fans and for anyone who wants the inside story into one of music's most talked-about events." --Paul Edwards, author of The Concise Guide to Hip-Hop Music, How to Rap, and How to Rap 2 "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin offers a front-row seat as Wu Tang Clan's maverick, idealistic attempt at a statement on the current state of the music industry and the symbiosis of art and money backfires, turning into a surreal caper featuring monumental ambitions, even more monumental egos, Bill Murray, the FBI, replica AK-47s, and, yes, arguably the most hated man in America. It's a music book unlike any other." --Paul Fischer, author of A Kim Jong-Il Production