Baltimore Sharp-spitter UllNevaNo Teams Up with Jumbled for Basketball-inspired The Ghost of Len Bias EP (MGNTK./Harford & Reckord Tapes)

It would be safe to say that the immense musical diversity and sheer success seen published across the pages of The Witzard within the last year or two is largely due in part to one man, John "Jumbled" Bachman; a self-proclaimed "teacher, husband, beat-maker, and dish-washer," Bachman has been a long-time champion, supporter, featured artist, talent scout, and most recently, idea man behind Beat-maker Bedrock here at The Witzard. Jumbled has either produced beats for, set up shows, introduced, or simply referred me to an ever-evolving crew of head-nodding East Coast-based emcees and beat-makers since we first met, after he sent me his 2016 album, [I wish it was longer] AKA WIWL. John Bachman and his wife recently welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their family and started a new school year at a new school, all the while, simultaneously working on a number of extracurricular projects: The Ghost of Len Bias, Bully Preston with emcee Dwell, and an instrumental Bmore Club-minded solo EP. The Ghost of Len Bias EP rhymesmith, UllNevaNo was actually featured on the first Jumbled track I ever heard, WIWL intro "Hampden Session," which I had no idea, at the time, but was a solid sampling of what the two could do together.


I've been hearing about UllNevaNo & Jumbled's untitled/The Ghost of Len Bias EP for at least 6-8 months now, maybe even a year, which I would imagine, is likely as long as it's even been a formative idea. "There's been a lot of talk in the press lately of rappers returning to the one-producer album. The spirit of collaboration has been replaced with Soundcloud singles," reads The Ghost of Len Bias EP's press release. Jumbled & UllNevaNo indeed appear to be single-handedly resurrecting the lost art of the tried and true rapper-producer album, evoking sonic notes of Champion Sound, Johnson&Jonson, MADVILLAINY, Gang Starr, Erik B. & Rakim, and THE MOUSE AND THE MASK. The Ghost of Len Bias features—in addition to Logic Marsellis-assisted "BIAS VS. JORDAN" and The Witzard-premiered "86 Draft"—Baltimore emcee Ashley Sierra on "Shoot Your Shot," UllNevaNo rhyming over a "Bluesy guitar riff with ease" on "How Does He Do It?" cuts from DJ Blaze Daily, and a neck-snapping Jumbled instrumental, "Magnetik," towards the end of the EP. The Ghost of Len Bias EP is currently available on MGNTK.'s Bandcamp page in partnership with John Bachman's own Harford & Reckord Tapes with super-limited red and black cassette tapes "#importedfrom[the]UK" coming fairly soon.