Raury is proving that he has some stimulating stories to tell. His latest single “Devil’s Whisper” may sound like an antithesis, but it is really a prophetic warning, made plain in the song's music video.
In the video, we see visuals that are laced with guilty pleasures and satanic innuendos. It starts off with Raury standing on a small stage in a dimly lit dive, wearing his signature straw hat, guitar in hand. Raury prompts the crowd to start a staccato clap, which blends into a backwoods’ beat with eerie tribal chants, a haunting guitar and a thumping bass line. As the hook “You better run from the devil” loops in the background, Raury locks eyes with a beauty wearing Pocahontas braids. Their piercing stare dissolves into an open field with a barn where he and Pocahontas are frolicking with friends. The scene changes to Raury and friends enjoying a delectable feast, laughing and eating to their heart’s content. After the feast, the scene flips to a steamy party, where Raury goes to the restroom and walks outside where he happens upon a baptism in which a lady is fully immersed in a bathtub. Pocahontas looks on, her eyes glowing as if she’s possessed. Raury returns to the party and sees himself with glowing eyes sitting with Pocahontas. The real Raury attempts to punch the doppelganger, but it dissolves like an apparition. He looks around in a confused daze, surrounded by a sea of glowing eyes. The whole room is possessed. At this point, it’s clear to Raury that he needs to run from the devil.
As he retreats from the party, Raury stumbles onto the abandoned feast which is now being mauled by wild pigs. Raury continues to run and finds himself back in the open field with two German Shepherds chasing him. His shirt flaps in the wind, his hat now ghost, as he runs like a runaway slave. He sprints through the open field and back onto the stage of the dimly lit dive and spits the last verse with fervent conviction. He repeats the last line, “Run in some type of direction / ‘Cause the people going nowhere are the ones that are flexin’ / I’m not trying to be a preacher, I was never a reverend / But I can take your ass to church and show you glimpses of heaven,” as a charge to beware of the devil’s influence.
The video ends the same way as his video for “God’s Whisper” began, with him waking up on top of a roof with the ambient sounds of children playing. Raury’s eclectic style mixed with his southern roots make watching “Devil’s Whisper” one hellacious ride.
