Read this interview from hiphopdx. He's lost his mind.
Martin Shkreli Plans To Bail-Out Bobby Shmurda
In this HipHopDX exclusive, the contentious pharmaceutical CEO who purchased Wu-Tang's "Once Upon A Time In Shaolin" explains his frustration with RZA, his advocacy for Action Bronson and own his rap aspirations.
The name Martin Shkreli seems to ring wrong these days. As CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, the Brooklyn native’s controversial decision to raise the price of vital AIDS medication, Daraprim from $13.50 per pill to a staggering $750 each has incited vitriol from across the internet and the real world. So when it was announced last week that Shkreli was the buyer of Wu-Tang’s mystic
Once Upon A Time In Shaolin—which was marketed as a pioneering work-of-art rather than an album—RZA went into damage control. “The sale was agreed upon in May,” he told Bloomberg Business Week, “…well before Martin Skhreli’s [sic] business practices came to light.”
To say the stiff-arm did not sit well with Shkreli is an understatement. “I felt insulted,” he tells HipHopDX in this exclusive conversation. “If I hand you $2 million, fukking show me some respect. At least have the decency to say nothing or ‘no comment.’”
But Shkreli didn’t simply purchase the most expensive album in history to have it chill next to his Picasso. Raised in Sheepshead Bay, the brash executive is an avid Hip Hop fan. He loves Eminem and DMX and describes in detail his hopes of becoming a part of the culture… or, at least, the industry. He grew up playing the guitar and piano and aspires to release his own rap album. But before that, his immediate plan is to bail-out jailed Brooklyn upstart, Bobby Shmurda.
“I’m a fan and I’m a business man,” he tells DX. “Look, the guy’s going to have to record for me if he comes out. I’ll just come out and say it… I’m not going to do this for free.
“To me, what I’m doing right now in the media,” Shkreli continues, “raising prices, all this shyt, believe what you want, but it’s interesting. It gets people talking. At the end of the day, that’s what art is. I don’t know if I can translate the shyt into rap or not, but I’ll try… In 500 years, they’re going to talk about rap the same way we talk about Shakespeare. I just want to throw my hat in the ring, that's all. I don’t want to make money.”
Bobby Shmurda & Action Bronson
Martin Shkreli: We’re actually in discussion to try to bail out
Bobby Shmurda. Forget whether you think he’s guilty or not, the guy should not be sitting in jail right now. It’s insane. He’s from Brooklyn. I’m from Brooklyn. He deserves a fair trial. He deserves good lawyers. He doesn’t have good lawyers. His label is hanging him out to dry and so I have a conference call tomorrow morning with them (December 15). I’ll show up with $2 million bail money no fukking problem. He’s not going to flee the country. I’m not going to lose anything. I’m going to try to make that happen. That’s one thing I’m working on.
HipHopDX: Where did that come from? I’m sure you’re familiar with the story, but are you a fan?
Martin Shkreli: I’m a fan and I’m a business man. I’m not going to do this for free. [Laughs] He’s going to have to do something for me. I don’t know what that’s going to look like yet. He’s going to owe me one, obviously. I’d like to pay for his legal defense as well. I’m a big fan, but also, I’m an opportunist. You know that. I see an opportunity here. He’s a talented guy. Every concert I go to, people yell “Free Shmurda.” He reminds me of me, quite frankly. The guy’s totally irreverent. He doesn’t give a damn what people think. Totally irreverent. Totally I don’t give a fukk. I love him. I just love that style. He’s from not far from where I’m from in Brooklyn. I’d love to help him out. I wish someone would have helped me out when I needed help. He doesn’t have much money, I know that. He’s definitely hurting for money. He needs a bailout, basically. I’d like to help him out. No big promises, but I’ll see what I can do. Like I said, if I can post the $2 million, I’d do it tomorrow. I’m working on it and hopefully, we’ll see him free soon.
DX: You’re unabashedly an opportunist, you said it. Is part of this because it’s potentially a perceived olive branch to the Hip Hop community. Hip Hop isn’t really feeling you right now.
Martin Shkreli: It’s a mix. Look, the guy’s going to have to record for me if he comes out. I’ll just come out and say it. If I’m gonna post his bail, pay for his trial, get him a “Not Guilty” verdict... With the right lawyer, it’s just a matter of money. I see opportunity. The guy’s going to be more popular when he’s out. The guy probably didn’t do shyt. He was trying to turn to a new chapter in his life and the old shyt is coming up and hurting him. He’s New York’s best chance for rap since
50 Cent. It’s not a lot of money for me. Spend a couple million on his defense, a couple million on bail and I’ll get the bail money back real quick. So a million or two for his defense, which is probably $4 million in total, I’m willing to put towards his defense. I don’t do olive branches. I’m doing something for him, the same way I felt I was doing something for the
Wu-Tang Clan. And I’m doing something for me. If people benefit from that, listeners, then that’s great, but that’s not my primary concern. First is him. Second is me. Third is everyone else. Everyone wins. It’s a win-win-win. The only loser is the fukking FEDs that want to see a fukking kid sit in jail for no reason because his lawyers can’t fukking get his act together. That’s what’s going on with that.
DX: What else did you want to share?
Martin Shkreli: There’s a simmering [conflict] going on with the Wu-Tang Clan. It’s probably going to bubble. I don’t know if it’s going to lawsuits. I don’t know what’s going to happen, honestly. I wanted to talk about
Action Bronson. You know he’s Albanian?
DX: I do.
Martin Shkreli: You know I’m Albanian?
DX: I know that, as well. Sheepshead Bay [Brooklyn].
Martin Shkreli: I’m the most successful Albanian to ever walk the face of this Earth. What happened to Bronson was [regarding
Ghostface Killah]. I thought it was entertaining, watching him run his mouth on Youtube and talk about how he’s got shooters and shyt like that. It was funny. I just didn’t like that. I thought we’d keep it as if it was fine. I bought the album. [There's a ] big fukking check in
RZA and
Cilvaringz’ pocket now, but if they’re starting to turn up on me… The Albanian community is a very weird community. We’re some of the most tight-knit kind-of kill for each other, die for each other motherfukkers there are. People say it’s one of the craziest ethnicities there is in terms of their loyalty and bloodlines and shyt like that. This thing [Wu-Tang thing] is starting to get pretty tense. You probably see that increasingly. I’m getting pretty frustrated by it. I bought the most expensive album in the history of mankind and fukking RZA is talking shyt behind my back and online in plain sight. I’m just getting pissed off. That’s not the way I do business. If I hand you $2 million, fukking show me some respect. At least have the decency to say nothing or “no comment.” The guy says “…before his business practices came to light.” What the fukk does that mean? I fukking make money. That’s what I do. That’s why I can fukking afford a fukking $2 million album. What do you think I do, make cookies? No, motherfukker. I sell drugs. [Laughs] I felt insulted.
DX: Throughout this entire process since the announcement, there have been people critical of the idea that they were going to try to sell an album like a work-of-art, a piece that truly was one-of-a-kind. You remember when
Ol' Dirty b*stard said “Wu-Tang’s for the children.” Now babies can’t get healed unless they can afford $750 [per AIDS] pill. They definitely have brand concerns, right?
Martin Shkreli: I’m staring at a Picasso in my living room right now that’s no different from the Wu-Tang box except it’s about 20 times more expensive. It is what it is. If you sell me some shyt, then sell me some shyt. If you don’t want to sell it to me then don’t sell it to me. You’ve got to research Albanians, it’s the most hot tempered culture there is. I have a crazy temper myself. He’s from the streets. The guy hasn’t been in the hustle in 20 years. He doesn’t want to get me angry and I’m getting angry. Again, what Ghostface said to Bronson was 100 hundred times worse than me and RZA. This is starting to get into some weird Albanian shyt. There are similarities, very similar. I’m just getting fed up. If he doesn’t think I have the resources to do something, he fukking doesn’t know me. If Ghostface can make people disappear, what the fukk do you think I can do? I’ll fukking snap the CD on fukking TV and not even listen to it if that’s what he fukking wants.
DX: The
Bloomberg story talked about a lunch that you and RZA had prior to the finalizing of the sale. With what you’re saying now, I find it hard to believe that there weren’t covenants to the agreement that kept [each side] from criticizing the sale should it go either way. Everything else seems super confidential.
Martin Shkreli: I’ll have to look back at the agreement. I appreciate you asking that. I met the guy at the SOHO House. The place doesn’t impress me. The guy sits down. We talk for a half an hour. We didn’t really get to know each other in any way, shape or form. That’s why I said that we didn’t have much in common because we talked for maybe an hour. I’ve had meetings where I was supposed to be talking to someone for an hour and we end up talking for six hours because we’re so interested in what we have to say. We’ve all been there. That’s not what happened. Motherfukker came in. He was late. We sat down for maybe 45 minutes at most. He left and was like, “Man, this is the man that needs to buy this album.” I’ve been behind a lot of deals. I know when I’m being bullshytted. You don’t have to fukking fake it. But I still wanted the album. We definitely didn’t have much in common. The guy is fukking full of himself, talking about how his shyt is the best ever, how fukking
Bobby Digital was the best shyt ever. I wasn’t feeling him at all. I figured it was another arrogant rapper. How many of them do you need to meet?
I’m trying to get somewhere in this industry. I’m not sure it’s about olive branches or not. I’m a musician. I’ve played guitar and piano since I was a little kid. I might try to do my own shyt.
