On a Soundcloud in Space: Birmingham Rapper Erthling. Reinvents Himself

David Redwine is now Erthling. Maybe you knew him back when he performed as sLanguage, when he was a member of Tuscaloosa’s Intelligent Quotes collective, then a member of the now-dormant group Pen Pals. Most recently, Redwine performed as half of the duo Ancestor, along with Birmingham’s Omari Jazz.

However you know him — or don’t — he’s been an integral part of the Birmingham hip-hop community and its rise for years. And now, he’s reimagined himself with a new alter-ego, Erthling — a project he says gives him a space where he can simultaneously experiment and improve. It’s also a space in which he challenges other artists he works with to step out of their own comfort zones.

(Editor’s note: Redwine typically stylizes his stage name as Erthling., with a period at the end. For clarity, that punctuation has been left out of this article.)

So why all the names? “It gives me the ability to have my hand in two pots at once,” he says. “My goal with Erthling, besides being an avenue to discover myself personally, is to be more progressive and think outside of the box — whereas sLanguage still sits in that space of, ‘Okay. Head nod. Let’s rap.’”

Aesthetically, Erthling feels heavily influenced by Birmingham native Sun Ra — the cosmic-minded, psychedelic jazz pioneer whose life and career was built upon pushing artistic boundaries.

“I’ve actually referenced Sun Ra a few times in songs,” Redwine laughs. “But realistically, when I started Erthling, I wasn’t really thinking about Sun Ra. It just happened to make a lot of sense as it was evolving. Especially as an artist in Birmingham, I think of Sun Ra as a spiritual ancestor to what I do now.”

You can see that influence on his first release as Erthling., Magical Realizm. The cover of that EP features a drawing of Redwine meditating on a cloud floating in outer space. His music is a similar blend of the surreal and the introspective. “Too profound to be found in any mainstream place,” he raps on “GetDown,” the EP’s second track. “Purposely rose the bar to a height that’s great / Now you’ll find me sitting on a Soundcloud in space.”

Magical Realizm also features a remix of “Old Gods” by Birmingham hard rock band Null — which might at first seem like a strange fit. But genre boundaries didn’t dissuade Redwine.

“I love all types of music,” he says. “When I listen to Null, I hear this raw power and deep thought. It takes me to a place that I really enjoy when I hear them. I had the stems for their song for a super long time—like over a year, probably, because it was originally supposed to be remixed by Ancestor. I also had a song called ‘Old Gods’ that was never released, so it made sense to make those two things fit together.”

Redwine says he’s not worried that his eclectic output will confuse or alienate listeners. “I don’t think it’s very hard for the people that care to follow to know what’s currently happening,” he says. “A lot of my self-promotion is on a very personal level, which is also a big part of the entire identity and persona of Erthling — I’m a person, just like you.”

He started rapping when he was seven years old; his father worked at influential hip-hop label Def Jam. When he was a kid, his aunt would call into the local radio station in Fort Payne and rap on air while Redwine was near.

So he spent a lot of his youth surrounded by hip-hop. He bounced around a lot — from Fort Payne to Carrollton, Georgia, to New York to Ohio to Atlanta, eventually finishing high school in Tuscaloosa at Northridge. He’s 29 now and Birmingham-based — and he says he’ll allow his artistic expression to continue to evolve.

“I don’t feel like this is the end,” he says — but at the moment, Erthling “encapsulate[s] who I am and what I am right now.”

Erthling will perform at Saturn on Friday, August 3, as part of the Secret Stages Music Discovery Festival. For more information, visit secretstages.net.