The video for Raz’s “Natural Resources” was filmed over the course of the rapper’s trip to SxSW, both at officially sanctioned festival performances and a series of pop-up/guerilla-style shows in the streets of downtown Austin. Given the heavy subject matter of the track — the get-busy-living-or-die-from-exposure industriousness of this country’s marginalized people — at first glance the concept for the video doesn’t seem to fit the lyrics. But given the rapper’s own diligence and perseverance within the amalgam of humanity and cultural free-for-all that is SxSW, the backdrop for the video comes into greater focus. There’s nothing more natural here than Raz’s own charisma, and few things as resourceful as his live band, PA System, setting up their gear in the middle of the street.
Get Raz’s Cognitive Dissonance: Part One for free, here.