If asked to give a simple yet concise explanation of who Maspyke is, those who are familiar with them may offer the following; “Public Enemy, Jungle Brothers, and Dead Prez  walk into a bar?”  While that maybe a starting point to briefly encapsulate their sound and vibe, this three-man crew are certainly not new jacks, as they opted out of a deal with Elektra and opened up more ears with a few notable inclusions on a Rawkus dispersed mixtape a few years ago. 

While Maspyke (Hanif, Tableek and resident in-house producer Roddy Rod) have a slew of material in circulation, their proper debut, Blackout, is a mish-mosh of new beginnings and worthwhile returns to past glory.  The problem with Blackout doesn’t lie in the production, or the emceeing; it lies within the overall product that we see placed upon the table.  Though Blackout will serve as a valuable tool for the uninitiated, those of us who are already down cannot really even consider this an album.  Reason being, some of these tracks are very dated, five-years old in some cases and in hip hop chronology, that might as well be a lifetime.  The inclusion of virtual underground classics like “Lost in Belief”, “Far East Politics”, “The Umpire”, and “Played List” are wonderful cuts, and the wordplay on “Idol Minds,” is more than flattering, as both Hanif and Tableek display their lyrical diversity. Yet, Maspyke is just the latest accomplice in a disturbing trend that includes incorporating very dated material onto their “debut” album.  To further illustrate this point, the trio’s albeit slim batch of new material shows great promise, as “Spirit of ’92,” is a glorious throwback record, taking us all back to when hip-hop and life in general was much simpler.   

That being said, be careful to note that this is far from a mediocre album, so don’t let the rating (@@@) deter you.  The finished product is above average, but you have to subtract points due to the cobwebs you will find while slipping the disc into your sound provider of choice.  Hopefully, Maspyke will quickly follow up Blackout with a fresh batch of new material that will hip us to where there going, not where they’ve already been.