How lucky is this 4 man crew from Staten Island to have Raekwon as their resident mentor and to back them up on their debut album “Polluted Water?” Crew deep, Ice Water, consists of Polite, Stomach, P.C. (Paulie Caskets) and D.C. (Donnie Cash) and marks Staten Island’s “return to prominence as a hotbed for fresh, credible talent.” These kids are nice and I’ll say it early, the album and the groups debut is worth while. (check em’ out!) As mentioned by Raekwon, “We knew these cats had potential way back, but the timing wasn’t right. I always kept a radar on dudes, and when I felt they was ready mentally and lyrically, I helped ’em get on.” Rae even had them open for the Wu this past summer on the Rock The Bells tour to build up that credibility. Straight off the Babygrande label, “Polluted Water” features an all star guest list including Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Remy Ma, Three Six Mafia and Jagged Edge. Raekwon and Method Man make appearances throughout the album as well but the main focus is Ice Water themselves.

While I woudn’t consider the album to be heavily Wu-influenced, on the rhyming tip- it’s easy to say these cats are on the same level as Raekwon’s wordplay. The opening track “Animal” speaks for itself with a lyrically hungry intro produced by the heavily slept on Scram Jones. “Do it big” is a collabo between Icewater and Flipmode’s Busta Rhymes, it’s a nice one to bum to. “Let’s get it” is one of the better Three Six Mafia featured tracks I’ve heard, it had em’ raising their game lyrically. Other notable tracks include “Love don’t cost” feat. Method Man and The Raekwon and Pimp C featured “Knuckle Up” is hard as hell.

“Polluted Water” is an album worth checking out. It’s a debut album with a lot of promise and with Rae comparing these cats to raising pitbulls- we can only expect a more viscous on their careers and future. Also this isn’t an album with Raekwon playing baby sitter to the crew… his name maybe all over the cover and on a few tracks, but he let’s the crew shine on their own. Check em’ out!

Animal Video Featured after the jump…