Journalists are taught to enter into a review with no preconceptions or thoughts prior to hearing an album. However, when an album features the word “mobb” on the cover and a depressing watercolor painting of an equally grimy Queensbridge on the back, Havoc and Prodigy of Mobb Deep are usually not far from the scene of the crime.

     Instead, fellow QB trio Infamous Mobb (IM3) present the follow-up to their debut 2002 album Special Edition with Blood Is Thicker Than Water, Vol. 1, an intricate, if not repetitive, ode to what they refer to as “reality rap.” Ty Nitty, G.O.D. Pt. 3 of Infamous Mobb, and Twin Gambino take turns spitting the usual gun-busting, weed-smoking, robbery songs that put many QB rappers and QB itself on the map, but much like their predecessors, Infamous Mobb do so with an authenticity that makes them stand head and shoulders above the normal New York gangsta rap chatter. Plus, Blood Thicker Than Water, Vol. 1 includes a bonus DVD that actually outdoes the recent trend of including bonus video coverage, as IM3 presents eight music videos, interviews with Alchemist and Prodigy, and over two hours of exclusive QB coverage. The DVD alone makes the B.T.T.W. album worth the purchase with the music playing as a worthy soundtrack to the gritty and grimy streets of QB.

    With “Who We Ride For” which has the group proclaiming, “That’s what I live for! Imagine what I die for!” during the chorus, and “Lifestyle,” with the group comparing illegitimate lifestyles to those of everyday working people, both exemplify the group’s train of thought throughout the album. Surrounded by guns, murders, crime, and such, the environment in which IM3 surrounds themselves shines through every word on the album.

     “Empty Out (Reload)” (produced by MASBERG) features IM3 and an unusually hyped-up Prodigy (at least by P’s standards) spitting, “I ain’t cut from cloth, I’m cut from strands, Of DNA that’ll have Bush shittin’ in his pants,” over a fiery gunshot-laced beat following the recent trend of rappers aiming at the president. P only serves to compliment the group, however, as all of IM3 comes correct concerning a topic that they seem to have majored in on the streets.
 “Take It Back,” a melodic Ric Rude production, showcases the sensitive sides on all three members as they “take it back to ’85″ and ponder the hard times of their lives while weaving it within QB and hip-hop specific memories.

     Other tracks do not fare as well as the title track “Blood Thicker Than Water,” “Light A Candle,” and “More Hoes Than Hefner” all fail to capture the interesting thugged-out personas present in better efforts and instead add to the repetitive tread that IM3 seems to continue to ride. Even the usually consistent Alchemist provides a less-than-stellar production effort on “Gunz Up Lennox” as the gangsterisms become overdone and R&B singer Chinky simply ruins her second opportunity on the album (she is also featured on “Got That Iron”).

      Nitty, G.O.D-Father PT3, and Twin Gambino accomplish their vision of “reality rap” through Blood Thicker Than Water, Vol. 1 and even manage to do so in a gunshot sort of way – sometimes they hit their targets, sometimes they miss. However, their strong ties to Mobb Deep, their stronger ties to one another, and their even stronger ties to the streets hold them back from establishing themselves as individual artists striving to accomplish something fresh. They manage to convey an interesting story over some decent beats – just a story that has already been told, making the preconceptions of Infamous Mobb even harder to shake.