Artist: Est Gee
Album: El Toro
Articulation: Courtney Cosby
El Toro is solid 20 track album all the way through, but a lot of the songs are short considering the total album length is only 50:42. I was a fan of his previous album Die Bloody so I was already anxious to review this project. Gee’s subject matter consists of stories about hustling, abusing and selling drugs, and the things that come along with it. His lyrics are so detailed that you can visualize what he says. There’s a song called The Bull where he says in the chorus, “Once you show money, know they coming, all that shit come with it, hating shit come with it, taking shit come with it, some niggas gon die and go to prison, all that shit come with it, freaks and thots come with it it, sticks and glocks come with it, you might get robbed, you might get shot, all that shit come with it,” and all those things really do come with being in the streets. He’s very honest about his life and the things he’s been through.
Gee has several industry features such as Lil Durk, Marlo, Roddy Rich and Jack Harlow although they aren’t listed on the album. He proudly represents Newburg throughout his music, which makes me extra hype because that’s where I grew up, so I can really relate to certain lyrics. Summer on Riata is meaningful hood track because Riata is one of the many “R” streets in a certain area of Newburg that we call “H-Mark.” Gee mentions “H-Mark” in the song Mall Map featuring Jack Harlow and says, “I’m a H-Mark legend I grew up with the guys, I done died, came back alive, you see the shit in my eyes.”
On the Island is another hood track where Gee refers to Newburg as “The Island” quoting, “This ain’t the Newburg that you niggas know I changed the status, ain’t no more outsiders on the island, we revoking passes.” He has a smooth cadence and rides the beat on every song. He has his own sound and tends to talk shit in the background as his adlibs. His voice gives off a sleepy, groggy sound as if he’s high or hasn’t been to sleep in days, which is something he often talks about in his lyrics. He speaks on dealing with anxiety and self medication to help deal with.
I was highly impressed with the consistency of El Toro and extremely proud of the fact that he’s from the neighborhood I grew up in. Est Gee will definitely be an artist I will continue to follow and will be looking forward to all his future projects. The songs could’ve been longer but other than that El Toro is most definitely heat and gets a 9 rating.
Key Dope:
Mall Map
El Toro
Dope Tho Rating: 9
Dope Tho Rating System
1-3 = Nope Tho
4-6 = Solid
7-9 = Heat
10 = Rated Dope Tho