Wu-Tang Clan will soon release Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, a secretly recorded album that won't be made commercially available. Instead, it'll be manufactured as a single copy and tour through museums and galleries before being sold to the highest bidder. RZA claims that they've already received a $5 million bid. Now, two Wu-Tang fans named Russell Meyer and Calvin Okoth-Obbo are trying to raise the money via Kickstarter to purchase the album and share it with other Wu-Tang fans.

"I can’t imagine RZA being upset if enough Wu-Tang fans get together and raise enough money to purchase [the album]," Meyer said in an interview with DNAinfo New York. "We don’t want some guy in Dubai who literally has money to burn to buy it as a collector item that only six people will get to listen to."

Their plan is to raise the funds, then distribute it digitally should they emerge as the high bidder. What would happen to the physical copy is still up in the air. "We could rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to hold it," Okoth-Obbo said. "Or we could do a vote or raffle of all backers to see who keeps it. It’s not about ownership, it’s about getting it out there. We’d rather just get the musical content and be able to share that with the people who want to be able to appreciate it."

As Kickstarters go, this one is fairly decentralized. There's only a single rewards tier entitling the backer to a digital copy of the album, which is reached with the donation of a dollar.

The "Risks and challenges" section of the Kickstarter reads:

The risk is some Saudi oil baron's kid spending his dad's money to collect a trophy and then he'll keep the album to himself and fans the world over will suffer. If for some reason we are unable to purchase the album to distribute it to all fans or we are outbid, there will be a vote to either refund all money to backers or use the money to fund a Wu Tang related project such as a free concert for backers. The founder of this group will not profit by even a single penny of backers' contributions, nor will a cent be spent until the auction date when the entirety of funds raised will be bid in an attempt to win the album.

It's a noble, if difficult goal: As of press time, they'd raised $52 out of $5 million. Still, there's 52 days to go.

Watch the video for "C.R.E.A.M.":