On almost every moment of the 15-track mixtape
Bigger Than Life or Death, Louisville, Kentucky rapper
EST Gee is operating at full force. His spring-loaded flows feel powerful and menacing regardless of tempo, and he sounds equally intense when he's blasting through seething depictions of street hustling like "All I Know" as he does on more party-friendly tracks like "5500 Degrees." That intensity carries the entirety of
Bigger Than Life or Death, with
EST Gee's vocal tracks pushed to the front of the mix and supported by the mumbly ad-libs that slither beneath. It's a collection heavy on highlights, with tracks like "No Friends" looking vulnerably at trauma and grief in a way just as exciting as bloodthirsty revenge stories like "Make It Even." The project is full of high-profile guest features, and
EST Gee holds his own alongside established names like
Lil Durk,
42 Dugg,
Yo Gotti, and others. In particular, the remix of "Lick Back" (featuring verses from
Future and
Young Thug) finds
EST Gee at the height of his versatile powers, molding brazen bragging and smart threats into something unexpectedly hooky. ~ Fred Thomas