Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US Hisp.) a fellow Hispanic, esp. in the context of a street gang; thus fem. ésa.

1961		M. Braly Felony Tank (1962) 35: What’d you get into this morning, ese?
1977		E. Bunker Animal Factory 76: You been duckin’ me, ése.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 236: ese See bato [i.e. a Chicano] [...] ese bato, ese vacho, ese vato Reference to a Latino the speaker considers cool.
1991		L. Bing Do or Die (1992) 19: I got a car, though — big old Monte carlo. Had an Essay fix it up for me.
1993		Snoop Doggy Dogg ‘Murder was the Case’ 🎵 I guess Ese’s way deep, shanked two in the chest.
1993		L. Rodríguez Always Running (1996) 90: "You wanta a stuffed animal, ésa,’ I asked.
2000		F.X. Toole Rope Burns 23: Now my old lady’s got cancer in the tit, ese, and it’s costing me.
2006		F.X. Toole Pound for Pound 144: You’re my Lobito, ése.
2009		J. Stahl Pain Killers 84: A solid ése to my left sat tapping his fingers on the desk.

2. (US black) a congratulatory term for a Hispanic; the inference is that such a person is effectively black; qualified as ése bato, ése vato, ése vacho, cool ése, okay ése, righteous ése.

1970		Current Sl. V:3 5: Cool esé, adj. Admirable; a good feeling.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 55: Tha’s what you call an ese’s outsasight.

3. a term of address, irrespective of ethnicity.

1981		E. Bunker Little Boy Blue (1995) 47: I’m sorry we fucked with you, ese.
1993		L. Rodríguez Always Running (1996) 255: : A greeting among vatos; ‘hey you.’ .
1998		T. Fontana ‘Strange Bedfellows’ Oz ser. 2 ep. 6 [TV script] You always let him diss you. You afraid of him, ese?