Our Story
About The Label
The ESØTËRIC Ones is an independent record label running between Harare, Johannesburg, and Seoul. Founded in 2023 by Ebstar (Ebenezer Tarubinga) — a Zimbabwean producer and AI researcher based in Korea — the label exists because the most interesting music comes from artists who exist between worlds.
What We Do
We release the music that doesn’t have a continent, a genre tag, or a clean elevator pitch. Amapiano built on Johannesburg’s floor and finished in Seoul’s studios. Tech House that carries the weight of Bulawayo. Hip-hop that speaks Hindi, Shona, and Korean in the same bar. Electronic music that sounds like nowhere and everywhere. Our roster spans 6 countries — united not by genre, but by a shared refusal to be easily categorised. 32 releases. 139 tracks. Distributed worldwide. All masters owned by the artists who made them. We don’t chase algorithms. We don’t buy playlists. We find artists who make music that couldn’t come from anyone else, and we put it in front of people who know what to do with it.
Timeline
The ESØTËRIC Ones releases its first catalogue entry — the TWENTY: Something Special EP — on Ebstar’s 20th birthday, November 29, 2021. Life Is Beautiful follows in March 2022, introducing Swedish Dance Glory and SkyDAWN to the world.
The roster takes shape. SkyDAWN, KARLOST, illversemusic, Tribal Muziq, and PieceMaker all make their label debuts. With Love, Ebstar :) (2023) crystallises the ESØTËRIC sound — piano house, dance-pop, and global collaboration in one 10-track EP.
Twelve new releases. Team G forms and drops three singles. ECHOES OF LOVE I (Deluxe Version) — a 40-track compilation — becomes the label’s most ambitious statement. Maknaebe (Deluxe Version) follows in November with a 23-track electronic and pop journey. Ebstar’s tracks top the Luxembourg Daily Spotify Chart twice and reach number 9 in Estonia with “sexual pt. I (ecstasy),” the catalogue’s first national top ten. Total catalogue streams cross 5M.
The Southern African roots of the label go deepest yet. PieceMaker leads three new Amapiano productions, bringing ThatGirlVee, Regina Ashie, and new collaborators into the catalogue for the first time. READY TO BE LOVED and KUZOKHANYA signal what’s next. In December, “When I Think of You (Summer)” with PieceMaker becomes the label’s third Luxembourg Daily Spotify Chart number one in under two years.
Our Sound
Founded By
Ebstar was born Ebenezer Tarubinga in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, on November 29, 2001, and built his career in Korea — a distance of about 10,000 kilometres that became the defining tension in everything he makes. A self-taught producer who placed 290th on SkioMusic’s World Producer Chart within a single year, he has accumulated 5M+ streams, 50+ brand collaborations, and 200K+ followers across platforms. He founded The ESØTËRIC Ones in 2023 as a platform for artists who share the same fundamental disregard for category. Forbes BLK member. Government-affiliated cultural roles with Seoul Tourism, Korea MOFA, KOFICE, and the National Assembly. Active machine learning researcher at Korea University with published papers in semantic segmentation. His catalogue has topped the Luxembourg Daily Spotify Chart on three separate occasions and earned a top ten finish at number 9 in Estonia, with additional weekly chart placements in South Korea.
View Artist ProfileGallery
Partners & Collaborators
Want to be part of what we’re building?
We’re always looking for artists, collaborators, and partners who share our vision. If that sounds like you — let’s talk.