Untitled (How Does It Feel)
Encyclopedia
"Untitled" is a song by American R&B
and neo soul
musician D'Angelo
, released January 1, 2000 on Virgin Records
in the United States. It was issued as a radio single in promotion of his second studio album, Voodoo (2000). Written and produced by D'Angelo and Raphael Saadiq
, the song was originally composed as a tribute to musician Prince
. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" contains a vintage style and sound similar to that of Prince's early musical work, while it also incorporates musical elements of soul
, funk
, quiet storm
, and rock music
. The song's lyrics concern a man's plea to his lover for sex.
The song received generally favorable reviews from music critics and it earned D'Angelo a number of awards. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" also earned notice for its controversial music video
. Directed by Paul Hunter
and Dominique Trenier, the video consists entirely of one shot
featuring a muscular D'Angelo appearing nude and lip-synching to the track. While initial reaction from viewers was divided with praise for its sexuality and accusations of sexual objectification
, the video received considerable airplay on music video networks such as MTV
and BET
, and it helped increase mainstream notice of D'Angelo and Voodoo.
The music video for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" had a considerable impact on D'Angelo's recording career, as it helped engender an image of him as a sex icon to a younger generation of fans. However, his discontent with this image led to his period of absence from the music scene following the conclusion of the supporting tour for Voodoo. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
at the 43rd Grammy Awards in 2001. Rolling Stone
magazine named "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" the fourth best single of 2000. The magazine later named it the fifty-first best song of the 2000s decade.
. The song evokes Prince's earlier work, in particular his balladry, from his Controversy period, as well as his musical style and falsetto
vocal technique. As an homage to the musician, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, record producer for Voodoo, described the song as "finding the line between parody and honesty ... In an era of 'the cover song', redoing a Prince song was taboo. This is the second best thing". Production of the song was handled by D'Angelo and fellow neo soul musician Raphael Saadiq
, who also contributed with bass
and musical arrangements during recording in 1999. The session took place at Electric Lady Studios
, the recording studio originally built by influential rock musician Jimi Hendrix
.
, while drum pattern, bass line, guitar and melodic phrasing feature traditional arrangements. Chalmers Alford
's electric guitar
interplay throughout the song is reminiscent of the guitar style of Jimi Hendrix, as well as the "Maggot Brain
" sound featured on the early work of Funkadelic
. The song features a drum pattern with a uniform dynamic
, which gives the impression of a live drummer playing in accordance to the sound of a drum machine
. Overdubbing
of D'Angelo's vocals, a contemporary R&B
recording technique prominently used on the rest of Voodoo, was implemented a number of times during production in order to provide the sound of a choir singing harmonies during the choruses, all of which are sung by D'Angelo.
The song begins with drummer Questlove's off-beat, cross-snare
clicks on the two and four beat
with a messy kick
. Music critic Steve McPherson noted that its first two measure
s sound "like a disaster", contrasting its solid groove. While most musical compositions rely on tension and release, which can be produced by factors such as soft verses and loud choruses, gradual buildup, sublte tension within verses or over the course of the bridge, or harmonic tension in chords that provides space for improvisation, D'Angelo's arrangements subdivide the tension into each moment of the song. According to McPherson, this results in "no linear way to measure how far off things slide before they pull themselves back ... can't be measured in beats or fractions of beats in a meaningful way. For lack of a less cliched word, it's entirely 'feel'". Similar to most of the song's album, Voodoo, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" has this syncopation
style as its center. D'Angelo's casual vocal style follows the same concept, applying it to melody, harmony, and phrasing, and is accompanied by falsetto climbs and skittery phrasing similar to Prince's singing.
Prior to the final chorus section, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" features a song-spanning dynamic after the bridge and guitar break that is accompanied by minor Rhodes piano
and guitar chords, while the multi-tracked vocals are implemented as background whispers. Arrangements for the song are stripped back for an emphasis on vocals, leading to an enormous choral climax accompanied by overdriven electric guitar. On the song's final chorus section, critic Steve McPherson wrote "after it hits a peak, it keeps rising, the chorus of voices fizzing into overdrive and the whole track gradually succumbing to a wash of reverb". The song is cut off in the middle of its culmination, ending with the line "How does it fee-".
, Prince, or Curtis Mayfield
." Levine elaborated on the lyrical theme of the song:
record label and in the United States on January 1, 2000 through Virgin Records
. In 2000, a 12-inch vinyl release of the single was issued in the U.K. with distribution through EMI. The 12-inch single was released with cover artwork featuring an illustration of musician Jimi Hendrix and an upper caption reading "Electric Lady Studios", serving as an homage to the musician and the recording studio, which were both influential to D'Angelo during the production of Voodoo. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" proved to be the greatest chart success of the album's five radio singles, as it peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100
and at number 2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The single entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singes & Tracks on January 8, 2000 at number 65 and spent twenty-two consecutive weeks on the chart. On January 22, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" entered the Hot 100 Singles at number 77 and spent seventeen weeks on the chart.
Critical opinions of the song were generally favorable, often with praise for D'Angelo's musical influence, in particular musician Prince. Miles Marshall Lewis
of The Village Voice
noted this influence, stating "D's falsetto plays the "Do Me Baby
"-era chocolate-seduction Prince role", while Mark Anthony Neal
of PopMatters
described the song as "simply the best Prince song since his Diamonds and Pearls
days". Neal cited "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" as the best track featured on Voodoo, and praised D'Angelo's style, stating "arguably Prince has never sounded better channeled through D'Angelo." On the song, Andy Peterson of The GW Hatchet wrote that "D’Angelo does a great impression of old-school Prince, full of kinky keyboards, grinding guitars and not-so-subtle lyrics." In citing it one of the Greatest Make-Out Songs of All Time, Blender
magazine wrote that D'Angelo "set the pace for bump 'n' grind in the Aughts. A high point for dippin' it low". Reveille Magazine's Steve McPherson called it "the best Prince song Prince never wrote" and cited the song's climb to its final chorus section as "the finest musical approximation of sexual climax since Serge Gainsbourg
's 'Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus
'".
In 2001, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" won a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
and was also nominated for Best R&B Song
at the 43rd Grammy Awards ceremony. It was ranked number 12 on The Village Voices 2000 Pazz & Jop
critics' poll and number 4 on Rolling Stone
s "End of Year Critics & Readers Poll" of the top singles of 2000. Blender ranked "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" number 454 on its list of the Top 500 Songs of the 80s-00s (2005), and Q
included it on its list of the 1010 Songs You Must Own (2004). About.com
writer Mark Edward Nero ranked it number 9 on his list of 20 Best R&B and Soul Songs of the 2000s decade. In its December 2009 issue, Rolling Stone ranked it number 51 on its list of the 100 Best Songs of the Decade. In September 2011, VH1
ranked "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" number 83 on its list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the '00s.
The song's music video was directed and produced in one day at a soundstage in New York City
by director Paul Hunter
and Dominique Trenier, D'Angelo's manager at the time. The project was originally designed as a part of Trenier's promotional strategy to transform D'Angelo's image and public appeal. On the video's concept, Trenier stated, "the idea was, it would feel like one-on-one with whoever the woman was." D'Angelo, who had been under intense physical workout with personal trainer Mark Jenkins, was initially anxious to appear naked in the video upon hearing Trenier's proposal. In a 2008 interview for Spin
, Jenkins discussed D'Angelo's reluctance at the time to the idea for the video, stating "You've got to realize, he'd never looked like that before in his life. To somebody who was so introverted, and then, in a matter of three or four months, to be so ripped-everything was happening so quickly."
The video features a chiseled and muscular D'Angelo, wearing a small gold-chained crucifix necklace, lip-synching while filmed on a platform from the waist-up and appearing nude; he was wearing a pair of pajama bottoms
during filming, which were not visible in the video as they were hung low away from the camera's view. Trenier later explained the idea of D'Angelo appearing alone, stating "We didn't want an on-screen love interest. We wanted him to be able to make contact with whoever was watching it one-on-one". Consisting of entirely one shot
, the music video begins with the camera opening on the back of D'Angelo's head before rotating to the front and drawing back to a larger view of his upper torso
, as he begins to lip-synch to the track, set to an all-black background. It continues with camera close-ups of sweat trickling from his tattooed arms, chiseled chest and abdominal muscles, while also flirting with a peak of his shadowed, muscular hip. The video leads to D'Angelo making emotional gestures as he lip-synchs to the choral climax and the end of the song.
Music writers offered various interpretations of the video's style and concept. David Peisner of Spin wrote of the close-ups featured in the music video, "As the camera sucks him in, it feels intimate and intrusive, revealing and voyeuristic". Music critic Jim Farber commented that D'Angelo's torso "sways in grinding rhythm, tensing and releasing as his mouth curls in pleasure and his eyebrows narrow to measure an ecstatic contraction", while claiming that the video has "nothing but close-ups of D'Angelo's buff body on the apparent receiving end of one of life's great payoffs". In his essay "'Untitled': D'Angelo and the Visualization of the Black Male Body" for his 1999 Wide Angle journal, journalist Keith M. Harris interprets the video to be a portrayal of D'Angelo's "discursive play with masculinity
and blackness
". In his review of D'Angelo's Voodoo, Mark Anthony Neal
of PopMatters
wrote of the video in contrast to most music videos in R&B and hip hop at the time, stating "One could call the video for 'Untitled (How Does it Feel)' narcissistic, but in an era when most R&B videos are nothing but 'bling, bling' and booty, D'Angelo's bare naked torso was refreshing". On the video's camera range and angle, Stephen Hill, a senior vice president for BET, had stated "It stopped just north of the line where, you know, we would have had issues". A 2008 press release for D'Angelo described the music video as "featuring D'Angelo as a shirtless Adonis that catapulted him into the stratosphere and firmly cemented his place as the reigning King of Soul."
and MTV
networks, as it increased mainstream notice and appeal of D'Angelo upon the release of Voodoo in January 2000. Viewer response to the "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" music video was largely divided along sexual lines, as female viewers generally expressed favor to the video. Additionally, D'Angelo's video appearance, including a notable amount of sweating around his abdomen, contributed to rumors of him receiving oral sex
in the video. For an April 2000 article for Vibe, Questlove interviewed D'Angelo and asked him "Are you getting head in that video?", after which D'Angelo responded by laughing. Questlove then asked "So you're not going to answer that?", and D'Angelo responded, "No". Television personality Star Jones
, former co-host of the Emmy Award-winning American talk show The View, elaborated on the video's intimate theme, stating "D'Angelo is singing about being intimate with a woman that he loves, and it's just basic voice and body, and when you're in an intimate situation with a man, that's really all that's there — the voice and the body and the light hitting the body in a way that makes you know that this is your man". Danyel Smith, editor for Time Inc.
at the time, said "It's so sexy. It's about time that girls had something luscious to look at while they're listening to a song. For years, men have been treated to breasts and butts along with their favorite songs, and women have had to just sit there and endure." In an interview for The New York Times
, Smith also said that she had encountered an appreciative reaction among women to the adult sexuality of the music video. She continued, recalling her experience at a salon where the video was viewed, stating:
Despite general favor from female viewers' perspective, reaction from most male viewers was negative. The music video was presented to a crowd during a promotional party at the Chelsea, New York nightclub Centro-Fly, thrown in celebration of Voodoos January 2000 release. According to a New York Times correspondent, one female viewer at the party "recalled sitting at home, staring at the video, while her boyfriend snapped, 'Turn the channel — I don't want to see that gay stuff'". D'Angelo made an appearance at the WQHT Hot 97 studio as the DJ's Angie Martinez
and Funkmaster Flex
fielded calls from listeners about the video. Tracy Cloherty, program director for the radio station at the time, later commented on the divided reaction to the music video in an interview for The New York Times in 2000, stating "Of course, most of the women loved it. Some of the men said things like: 'We don't wanna see that kind of stuff. Why do we have to look at that?' Men definitely seem to be threatened by male nudity". Some viewers and music writers have attributed the male discomfort of the video to fear of male sexual objectification
and homophobia
. In a 2000 phone interview for The New York Times, D'Angelo maintained a neutral attitude towards general viewer opinion of the video, stating "With men, if there's any negative reaction, I'm not really going to get an honest feedback ... women love it, most definitely. But for me personally, the response I've got from both men and women has been pretty cool".
s columnist Jim Farber gave the music video an A rating, and called the close-ups of D'Angelo's physique a "measure of the video's smarm-free joy that even though the camera puts the viewer in the pleasure-giving position, we feel in no way manipulated or debased". Farber also lauded the video's depiction of sexuality, stating "it feels like a privilege to be part of such a comfortable act of carnality. Was it good for you, too?". A columnist for Billboard
magazine shared a similar sentiment about the video, writing that "it's pure sexuality. D'Angelo, muscularly cut and glistening, is shot from the hips up, naked, with just enough shown to prompt a slow burning desire in most any woman who sees it. The video alone could make the song one of the biggest of the coming year". However, David Thigpen of Time
magazine criticized the vanity of the video, stating "It's a good song, but I thought he was preening pretty heavily in the video". Thigpen also compared it to the music video for singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette
's "Thank U
" (1998), which features Morissette appearing nude, and stated "Nakedness is usually an expression of vulnerability — that was the point of the Alanis Morissette video. But in this case, it's really about power, an in-your-face form of masculinity". Douglas Century
of The New York Times called it "the most controversial music video to air in years", and favored the video's unconventional concept, writing that "'Untitled' breaks a long-established pattern in hip-hop and R&B videos in which male artists are often dressed in roughneck gear — baggy jeans, Timberland boots and baseball caps — surrounded by shimmying women in thong bikinis".
On September 7, 2000, the video earned four VMA nominations at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards
, which included MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year
, Best Male Video
, Best R&B Video
, and Best Direction
. In 2001, the video was ranked number 44 on VH1
's list of the 100 Greatest Videos. The website UGO later selected it for its list of the Top 50 Sexiest Music Videos. The digital television MTV Base
named "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" number 18 on its list of the Top 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever. In selecting the video for its list of the 100 Awesome Music Videos, Pitchfork Media
staff reviewer Amy Phillips wrote of the music video, stating "Every time a man that fine gets naked on TV, we're one step closer to world peace."
on stage. Dominique Trenier, who served as D'Angelo's manager from 1996 to 2005, later explained his disappointment of the music video's effect on D'Angelo, stating "to this day, in the general populace's memory, he's the naked dude".
Many of D'Angelo's peers have noted the success of the "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" music video as a contributing factor to his period of absence from the music scene and solo work, as well as his legal controversies and drinking issues following the tour. A columnist for SoulBounce.com has cited the video as the "jump-the-shark
moment" for D'Angelo, and stated "It was so provocative and polarizing that no one could recover from it, least of all him". Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who served as producer for Voodoo and musical director for "The Voodoo Tour", discussed the music video's impact on D'Angelo in a 2003 interview with music journalist Touré
, stating "he wants is to get fat. He doesn’t want his braider braiding every nook and cranny of his hair. He doesn’t wanna have to have ripples in his stomach. He doesn’t want the pressure of being 'Untitled' the video". Questlove ended by stating "Had he known what the repercussions of 'Untitled' would've been, I don’t think he would've done it".
Promo 12" vinyl
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
and neo soul
Neo soul
The term neo soul was originally coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell...
musician D'Angelo
D'Angelo
Michael Eugene Archer , better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known for his production and songwriting talents as much as for his vocal abilities, and often draws comparisons to his influences,...
, released January 1, 2000 on Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
in the United States. It was issued as a radio single in promotion of his second studio album, Voodoo (2000). Written and produced by D'Angelo and Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such artists as TLC, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, Mary J...
, the song was originally composed as a tribute to musician Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" contains a vintage style and sound similar to that of Prince's early musical work, while it also incorporates musical elements of soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, quiet storm
Quiet storm
Quiet storm is a late-night radio format, featuring soulful slow jams, pioneered in the mid-1970s by then-station-intern Melvin Lindsey at WHUR-FM, in Washington, D.C. Smokey Robinson's like-titled hit single, released in 1975 as the title track to his third solo album, lent its name to the format...
, and rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. The song's lyrics concern a man's plea to his lover for sex.
The song received generally favorable reviews from music critics and it earned D'Angelo a number of awards. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" also earned notice for its controversial music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
. Directed by Paul Hunter
Paul Hunter (director)
Paul Hunter is a music video director known for his high-budget, visually distinctive videos for popular music singles. He has directed over 100 music videos, many television advertisements and was nominated for an Emmy for Nike's Freestyle commercial...
and Dominique Trenier, the video consists entirely of one shot
One shot (music video)
A "one-shot" is any music video which consists of action, continuous in time and space, from the perspective of a single camera — a single long take. In order to be able to make one shot videos several special techniques are used. Most commonly the stage props which are not currently caught on...
featuring a muscular D'Angelo appearing nude and lip-synching to the track. While initial reaction from viewers was divided with praise for its sexuality and accusations of sexual objectification
Sexual objectification
Sexual objectification refers to the practice of regarding or treating another person merely as an instrument towards one's sexual pleasure, and a sex object is a person who is regarded simply as an object of sexual gratification or who is sexually attractive...
, the video received considerable airplay on music video networks such as MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and BET
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
, and it helped increase mainstream notice of D'Angelo and Voodoo.
The music video for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" had a considerable impact on D'Angelo's recording career, as it helped engender an image of him as a sex icon to a younger generation of fans. However, his discontent with this image led to his period of absence from the music scene following the conclusion of the supporting tour for Voodoo. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male...
at the 43rd Grammy Awards in 2001. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine named "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" the fourth best single of 2000. The magazine later named it the fifty-first best song of the 2000s decade.
Background and recording
"Untitled (How Does It Feel)" was originally intended as a tribute to influential musician PrincePrince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
. The song evokes Prince's earlier work, in particular his balladry, from his Controversy period, as well as his musical style and falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
vocal technique. As an homage to the musician, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, record producer for Voodoo, described the song as "finding the line between parody and honesty ... In an era of 'the cover song', redoing a Prince song was taboo. This is the second best thing". Production of the song was handled by D'Angelo and fellow neo soul musician Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such artists as TLC, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, Mary J...
, who also contributed with bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and musical arrangements during recording in 1999. The session took place at Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios, at 52 West 8th Street, in New York City's Greenwich Village, is a recording studio originally built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970...
, the recording studio originally built by influential rock musician Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
.
Musical structure
"Untitled (How Does It Feel)" follows a six eight signatureTime signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
, while drum pattern, bass line, guitar and melodic phrasing feature traditional arrangements. Chalmers Alford
Chalmers Alford
Chalmers Edward "Spanky" Alford was an American three time Grammy winning jazz guitarist. Alford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He was well known for his playing style and use of arpeggiations...
's electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
interplay throughout the song is reminiscent of the guitar style of Jimi Hendrix, as well as the "Maggot Brain
Maggot Brain
Maggot Brain is the third studio album by the American funk band Funkadelic, released in 1971 on Westbound Records. The album incorporates musical elements of psychedelia, rock, gospel, and soul music, with significant variation between each track. Pitchfork Media named it the seventeenth best...
" sound featured on the early work of Funkadelic
Funkadelic
Funkadelic was an American band most prominent during the 1970s. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
. The song features a drum pattern with a uniform dynamic
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
, which gives the impression of a live drummer playing in accordance to the sound of a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
. Overdubbing
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
of D'Angelo's vocals, a contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
recording technique prominently used on the rest of Voodoo, was implemented a number of times during production in order to provide the sound of a choir singing harmonies during the choruses, all of which are sung by D'Angelo.
The song begins with drummer Questlove's off-beat, cross-snare
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
clicks on the two and four beat
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
with a messy kick
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
. Music critic Steve McPherson noted that its first two measure
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
s sound "like a disaster", contrasting its solid groove. While most musical compositions rely on tension and release, which can be produced by factors such as soft verses and loud choruses, gradual buildup, sublte tension within verses or over the course of the bridge, or harmonic tension in chords that provides space for improvisation, D'Angelo's arrangements subdivide the tension into each moment of the song. According to McPherson, this results in "no linear way to measure how far off things slide before they pull themselves back ... can't be measured in beats or fractions of beats in a meaningful way. For lack of a less cliched word, it's entirely 'feel'". Similar to most of the song's album, Voodoo, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" has this syncopation
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
style as its center. D'Angelo's casual vocal style follows the same concept, applying it to melody, harmony, and phrasing, and is accompanied by falsetto climbs and skittery phrasing similar to Prince's singing.
Prior to the final chorus section, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" features a song-spanning dynamic after the bridge and guitar break that is accompanied by minor Rhodes piano
Rhodes piano
The Rhodes piano is an electro-mechanical piano, invented by Harold Rhodes during the fifties and later manufactured in a number of models, first in collaboration with Fender and after 1965 by CBS....
and guitar chords, while the multi-tracked vocals are implemented as background whispers. Arrangements for the song are stripped back for an emphasis on vocals, leading to an enormous choral climax accompanied by overdriven electric guitar. On the song's final chorus section, critic Steve McPherson wrote "after it hits a peak, it keeps rising, the chorus of voices fizzing into overdrive and the whole track gradually succumbing to a wash of reverb". The song is cut off in the middle of its culmination, ending with the line "How does it fee-".
Lyrics and theme
Co-written by D'Angelo and producer Raphael Saadiq, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" features sexually-explicit lyrics that follow and narrate a man's plea to his love interest for sex, as demonstrated in the song's second verse: "Love to make you wet / In between your thighs, cause / I love when it comes inside of you / I get so excited when I'm around you, baby". The song's lyrics have been described as "generic pop lyrics". Music critic Andy Peterson described the lyrics as "not–so–subtle", citing the line "Baby close the door / Listen girl, I have something I wanna show you / I wish you’d open up cause I wanna take the walls down with you" as an example. Music journalist Greg Levine cited its lyrics as "the generic pop lyrics", while also noting the similarity the lyrics have to those of other classic soul ballads, stating "Each line seems to be directly lifted from Marvin GayeMarvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, Prince, or Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
." Levine elaborated on the lyrical theme of the song:
Release and reception
As the fourth single issued in promotion of D'Angelo's second studio album Voodoo, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" featured release in the United Kingdom in 1999 through the EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
record label and in the United States on January 1, 2000 through Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
. In 2000, a 12-inch vinyl release of the single was issued in the U.K. with distribution through EMI. The 12-inch single was released with cover artwork featuring an illustration of musician Jimi Hendrix and an upper caption reading "Electric Lady Studios", serving as an homage to the musician and the recording studio, which were both influential to D'Angelo during the production of Voodoo. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" proved to be the greatest chart success of the album's five radio singles, as it peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and at number 2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The single entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singes & Tracks on January 8, 2000 at number 65 and spent twenty-two consecutive weeks on the chart. On January 22, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" entered the Hot 100 Singles at number 77 and spent seventeen weeks on the chart.
Critical opinions of the song were generally favorable, often with praise for D'Angelo's musical influence, in particular musician Prince. Miles Marshall Lewis
Miles Marshall Lewis
Miles Marshall Lewis is an American pop culture critic, essayist, literary editor, fiction writer, and music journalist. He is a graduate of Morehouse College, class of 1993....
of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
noted this influence, stating "D's falsetto plays the "Do Me Baby
Do Me, Baby
"Do Me, Baby" is a Prince ballad, the third and final U.S. single from his 1981 album, Controversy. With a running time of almost eight minutes, it is the longest track on the album. The song was written by André Cymone, but credited to Prince....
"-era chocolate-seduction Prince role", while Mark Anthony Neal
Mark Anthony Neal
Mark Anthony Neal is Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University, where he won the 2010 Robert B. Cox Award for Teaching...
of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
described the song as "simply the best Prince song since his Diamonds and Pearls
Diamonds and Pearls
Diamonds and Pearls is the thirteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, released October 1, 1991, on Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. It is his first album to have The New Power Generation, his backing band at the time, receive co-billing...
days". Neal cited "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" as the best track featured on Voodoo, and praised D'Angelo's style, stating "arguably Prince has never sounded better channeled through D'Angelo." On the song, Andy Peterson of The GW Hatchet wrote that "D’Angelo does a great impression of old-school Prince, full of kinky keyboards, grinding guitars and not-so-subtle lyrics." In citing it one of the Greatest Make-Out Songs of All Time, Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
magazine wrote that D'Angelo "set the pace for bump 'n' grind in the Aughts. A high point for dippin' it low". Reveille Magazine's Steve McPherson called it "the best Prince song Prince never wrote" and cited the song's climb to its final chorus section as "the finest musical approximation of sexual climax since Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
's 'Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus
Je t'aime... moi non plus
"Je t'aime… moi non plus" is a French duet written by Serge Gainsbourg. It was written for and sung with Brigitte Bardot in 1967, but that version was not released until 1986. In 1969, Gainsbourg recorded a version with his lover, Jane Birkin. It reached number one in the UK, but was banned in...
'".
In 2001, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" won a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male...
and was also nominated for Best R&B Song
Grammy Award for Best R&B Song
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song has been awarded since 1959. From 1969 to 2000 it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song, from 1962 to 1968 it was known as Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, and from 1959-1961 as Best Rhythm & Blues Performance...
at the 43rd Grammy Awards ceremony. It was ranked number 12 on The Village Voices 2000 Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics' poll and number 4 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s "End of Year Critics & Readers Poll" of the top singles of 2000. Blender ranked "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" number 454 on its list of the Top 500 Songs of the 80s-00s (2005), and Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
included it on its list of the 1010 Songs You Must Own (2004). About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
writer Mark Edward Nero ranked it number 9 on his list of 20 Best R&B and Soul Songs of the 2000s decade. In its December 2009 issue, Rolling Stone ranked it number 51 on its list of the 100 Best Songs of the Decade. In September 2011, VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
ranked "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" number 83 on its list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the '00s.
Production
The song's music video was directed and produced in one day at a soundstage in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by director Paul Hunter
Paul Hunter (director)
Paul Hunter is a music video director known for his high-budget, visually distinctive videos for popular music singles. He has directed over 100 music videos, many television advertisements and was nominated for an Emmy for Nike's Freestyle commercial...
and Dominique Trenier, D'Angelo's manager at the time. The project was originally designed as a part of Trenier's promotional strategy to transform D'Angelo's image and public appeal. On the video's concept, Trenier stated, "the idea was, it would feel like one-on-one with whoever the woman was." D'Angelo, who had been under intense physical workout with personal trainer Mark Jenkins, was initially anxious to appear naked in the video upon hearing Trenier's proposal. In a 2008 interview for Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
, Jenkins discussed D'Angelo's reluctance at the time to the idea for the video, stating "You've got to realize, he'd never looked like that before in his life. To somebody who was so introverted, and then, in a matter of three or four months, to be so ripped-everything was happening so quickly."
The video features a chiseled and muscular D'Angelo, wearing a small gold-chained crucifix necklace, lip-synching while filmed on a platform from the waist-up and appearing nude; he was wearing a pair of pajama bottoms
Pajamas
Pajamas, also spelled pyjamas , can refer to several related types of clothing. The original paijama are loose, lightweight trousers fitted with drawstring waistbands and worn in South and West Asia by both sexes...
during filming, which were not visible in the video as they were hung low away from the camera's view. Trenier later explained the idea of D'Angelo appearing alone, stating "We didn't want an on-screen love interest. We wanted him to be able to make contact with whoever was watching it one-on-one". Consisting of entirely one shot
One shot (music video)
A "one-shot" is any music video which consists of action, continuous in time and space, from the perspective of a single camera — a single long take. In order to be able to make one shot videos several special techniques are used. Most commonly the stage props which are not currently caught on...
, the music video begins with the camera opening on the back of D'Angelo's head before rotating to the front and drawing back to a larger view of his upper torso
Torso
Trunk or torso is an anatomical term for the central part of the many animal bodies from which extend the neck and limbs. The trunk includes the thorax and abdomen.-Major organs:...
, as he begins to lip-synch to the track, set to an all-black background. It continues with camera close-ups of sweat trickling from his tattooed arms, chiseled chest and abdominal muscles, while also flirting with a peak of his shadowed, muscular hip. The video leads to D'Angelo making emotional gestures as he lip-synchs to the choral climax and the end of the song.
Music writers offered various interpretations of the video's style and concept. David Peisner of Spin wrote of the close-ups featured in the music video, "As the camera sucks him in, it feels intimate and intrusive, revealing and voyeuristic". Music critic Jim Farber commented that D'Angelo's torso "sways in grinding rhythm, tensing and releasing as his mouth curls in pleasure and his eyebrows narrow to measure an ecstatic contraction", while claiming that the video has "nothing but close-ups of D'Angelo's buff body on the apparent receiving end of one of life's great payoffs". In his essay "'Untitled': D'Angelo and the Visualization of the Black Male Body" for his 1999 Wide Angle journal, journalist Keith M. Harris interprets the video to be a portrayal of D'Angelo's "discursive play with masculinity
Masculinity
Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...
and blackness
African American culture
African-American culture, also known as black culture, in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of Americans of African descent to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture. The distinct identity of African-American culture is rooted in...
". In his review of D'Angelo's Voodoo, Mark Anthony Neal
Mark Anthony Neal
Mark Anthony Neal is Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University, where he won the 2010 Robert B. Cox Award for Teaching...
of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
wrote of the video in contrast to most music videos in R&B and hip hop at the time, stating "One could call the video for 'Untitled (How Does it Feel)' narcissistic, but in an era when most R&B videos are nothing but 'bling, bling' and booty, D'Angelo's bare naked torso was refreshing". On the video's camera range and angle, Stephen Hill, a senior vice president for BET, had stated "It stopped just north of the line where, you know, we would have had issues". A 2008 press release for D'Angelo described the music video as "featuring D'Angelo as a shirtless Adonis that catapulted him into the stratosphere and firmly cemented his place as the reigning King of Soul."
Initial reaction
The music video gained a significant amount of airplay on the BETBet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
networks, as it increased mainstream notice and appeal of D'Angelo upon the release of Voodoo in January 2000. Viewer response to the "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" music video was largely divided along sexual lines, as female viewers generally expressed favor to the video. Additionally, D'Angelo's video appearance, including a notable amount of sweating around his abdomen, contributed to rumors of him receiving oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
in the video. For an April 2000 article for Vibe, Questlove interviewed D'Angelo and asked him "Are you getting head in that video?", after which D'Angelo responded by laughing. Questlove then asked "So you're not going to answer that?", and D'Angelo responded, "No". Television personality Star Jones
Star Jones
Star Jones is an American lawyer, journalist, writer, and television personality. She is known for her role as a co-host of the ABC weekday morning talk show The View...
, former co-host of the Emmy Award-winning American talk show The View, elaborated on the video's intimate theme, stating "D'Angelo is singing about being intimate with a woman that he loves, and it's just basic voice and body, and when you're in an intimate situation with a man, that's really all that's there — the voice and the body and the light hitting the body in a way that makes you know that this is your man". Danyel Smith, editor for Time Inc.
Time Inc.
Time Inc. is a subsidiary of the media conglomerate Time Warner, the company formed by the 1990 merger of the original Time Inc. and Warner Communications. It publishes 130 magazines, most notably its namesake, Time...
at the time, said "It's so sexy. It's about time that girls had something luscious to look at while they're listening to a song. For years, men have been treated to breasts and butts along with their favorite songs, and women have had to just sit there and endure." In an interview for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Smith also said that she had encountered an appreciative reaction among women to the adult sexuality of the music video. She continued, recalling her experience at a salon where the video was viewed, stating:
Despite general favor from female viewers' perspective, reaction from most male viewers was negative. The music video was presented to a crowd during a promotional party at the Chelsea, New York nightclub Centro-Fly, thrown in celebration of Voodoos January 2000 release. According to a New York Times correspondent, one female viewer at the party "recalled sitting at home, staring at the video, while her boyfriend snapped, 'Turn the channel — I don't want to see that gay stuff'". D'Angelo made an appearance at the WQHT Hot 97 studio as the DJ's Angie Martinez
Angie Martinez
Angela "Angie" Martinez is an American radio personality and occasional rapper.-Radio career:Angie Martinez got her first break in radio at the age of 16 answering hot lines at the urban radio station WQHT . There she met popular DJ Funkmaster Flex, and began working as his protégé...
and Funkmaster Flex
Funkmaster Flex
Aston George Taylor, Jr. better known as Funkmaster Flex is an American hip hop DJ, rapper, musician and producer on New York City's Hot 97 radio station and host of the hit MTV show Funk Flex Full Throttle....
fielded calls from listeners about the video. Tracy Cloherty, program director for the radio station at the time, later commented on the divided reaction to the music video in an interview for The New York Times in 2000, stating "Of course, most of the women loved it. Some of the men said things like: 'We don't wanna see that kind of stuff. Why do we have to look at that?' Men definitely seem to be threatened by male nudity". Some viewers and music writers have attributed the male discomfort of the video to fear of male sexual objectification
Sexual objectification
Sexual objectification refers to the practice of regarding or treating another person merely as an instrument towards one's sexual pleasure, and a sex object is a person who is regarded simply as an object of sexual gratification or who is sexually attractive...
and homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. In a 2000 phone interview for The New York Times, D'Angelo maintained a neutral attitude towards general viewer opinion of the video, stating "With men, if there's any negative reaction, I'm not really going to get an honest feedback ... women love it, most definitely. But for me personally, the response I've got from both men and women has been pretty cool".
Critical response
Critical opinion of the music video was generally favorable. Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s columnist Jim Farber gave the music video an A rating, and called the close-ups of D'Angelo's physique a "measure of the video's smarm-free joy that even though the camera puts the viewer in the pleasure-giving position, we feel in no way manipulated or debased". Farber also lauded the video's depiction of sexuality, stating "it feels like a privilege to be part of such a comfortable act of carnality. Was it good for you, too?". A columnist for Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine shared a similar sentiment about the video, writing that "it's pure sexuality. D'Angelo, muscularly cut and glistening, is shot from the hips up, naked, with just enough shown to prompt a slow burning desire in most any woman who sees it. The video alone could make the song one of the biggest of the coming year". However, David Thigpen of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine criticized the vanity of the video, stating "It's a good song, but I thought he was preening pretty heavily in the video". Thigpen also compared it to the music video for singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
's "Thank U
Thank U
"Thank U" is a song by Canadian recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette, for her fourth studio album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie . The song was written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, who produced her previous album...
" (1998), which features Morissette appearing nude, and stated "Nakedness is usually an expression of vulnerability — that was the point of the Alanis Morissette video. But in this case, it's really about power, an in-your-face form of masculinity". Douglas Century
Douglas Century
Douglas Century is a Canadian author and journalist. He was educated at Princeton University .-Journalism:...
of The New York Times called it "the most controversial music video to air in years", and favored the video's unconventional concept, writing that "'Untitled' breaks a long-established pattern in hip-hop and R&B videos in which male artists are often dressed in roughneck gear — baggy jeans, Timberland boots and baseball caps — surrounded by shimmying women in thong bikinis".
On September 7, 2000, the video earned four VMA nominations at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards
2000 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2000 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 7, 2000, honoring the best music videos from June 12, 1999, to June 9, 2000. The show was hosted by Marlon and Shawn Wayans at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
, which included MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year
MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year
The MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year is the main award handed out at the yearly MTV Video Music Awards. It was first awarded in , when The Cars won it, and has been given out since. Eminem has been the most nominated solo artist, male solo artist, and act in this category, having been...
, Best Male Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video is one of the four original general awards that have been handed out every year since the very first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, though, the award was briefly renamed Male Artist of the Year, and it awarded the artist's whole body of work...
, Best R&B Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video was first awarded in 1993, and was given every year until 2006, as the following year MTV revammped the VMAs and eliminated all of the genre categories. The following year, though, when MTV returned the VIdeo Music Awards to their previous format, Best...
, and Best Direction
MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction
The following is a list of MTV Video Music Awards winners for Best Direction in a Video. In 2007, the award was briefly renamed Best Director, but it returned to its original name for the 2008 awards....
. In 2001, the video was ranked number 44 on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's list of the 100 Greatest Videos. The website UGO later selected it for its list of the Top 50 Sexiest Music Videos. The digital television MTV Base
MTV Base
MTV Base is a 24-hour music and general entertainment channel from MTV Networks International. The channel focuses primarily on music from the world of R'n'B, hiphop, reggae, soul and urban. The MTV Base brand first launched in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland on July 1, 1999,...
named "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" number 18 on its list of the Top 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever. In selecting the video for its list of the 100 Awesome Music Videos, Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
staff reviewer Amy Phillips wrote of the music video, stating "Every time a man that fine gets naked on TV, we're one step closer to world peace."
Legacy and influence
The success of the video proved to contribute significantly to the album's commercial performance, as Voodoo had initially struggled to gain single-oriented success prior to the video. The commercial impact of the video and its heavy rotation on music video networks, however, lead to D'Angelo's building image as a sex icon to a younger generation of music fans. Despite the publicity surrounding Voodoo being escalated by the video's appeal, the appeal of the album was almost overshadowed, commercially, by the video. The video's success also lead to mounting frustrations during the supporting tour for Voodoo, during which female fans and audience members would yell out for D'Angelo to take his clothes offPublic nudity
Public nudity or nude in public refers to nudity not in an entirely private context. It refers to a person appearing nude in a public place or to be seen from a public place. It also includes nudity in a semi-public place, where the general public is free to enter, such as a shopping mall...
on stage. Dominique Trenier, who served as D'Angelo's manager from 1996 to 2005, later explained his disappointment of the music video's effect on D'Angelo, stating "to this day, in the general populace's memory, he's the naked dude".
Many of D'Angelo's peers have noted the success of the "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" music video as a contributing factor to his period of absence from the music scene and solo work, as well as his legal controversies and drinking issues following the tour. A columnist for SoulBounce.com has cited the video as the "jump-the-shark
Jumping the shark
Jumping the shark is an idiom used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery....
moment" for D'Angelo, and stated "It was so provocative and polarizing that no one could recover from it, least of all him". Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who served as producer for Voodoo and musical director for "The Voodoo Tour", discussed the music video's impact on D'Angelo in a 2003 interview with music journalist Touré
Touré
Touré is an American novelist, essayist, music journalist, cultural critic, and television personality based in New York City. He is the host of Fuse's Hiphop Shop and On The Record...
, stating "he wants is to get fat. He doesn’t want his braider braiding every nook and cranny of his hair. He doesn’t wanna have to have ripples in his stomach. He doesn’t want the pressure of being 'Untitled' the video". Questlove ended by stating "Had he known what the repercussions of 'Untitled' would've been, I don’t think he would've done it".
Track listings and formats
CD Maxi single- "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" (Radio Edit) – 4:22
- "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" (Album Version) – 7:13
- "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" (Call Out Hook) – 0:13
Promo 12" vinyl
- "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" – 4:22
- "Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine" (Funk Squad Mix) – 4:51
- Remixed by - Erick SermonErick SermonErick Sermon , in Bay Shore, New York is an American rapper, musician, and producer.Sermon is best known as half of late-1980s/1990s hip hop group EPMD and for production work. He currently resides in Islandia, New York.- Career :...
- Contains a sample of "I Used to Love H.E.R.I Used to Love H.E.R."I Used to Love H.E.R." is a hip hop song by the Chicago-born rapper Common. Released on the 1994 album Resurrection, "I Used to Love H.E.R." has since become one of Common's best known songs. Produced by No I.D., its jazzy beat samples "The Changing World" by George Benson. A video directed by...
" by CommonCommon (rapper)Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. , better known by his stage name Common , is an American hip-hop artist and actor....
- Remixed by - Erick Sermon
- "Everybody Loves the SunshineEverybody Loves the Sunshine-Track listing:#Hey, Uh, What You Say Come On - 3:45#Golden Rod - 3:03#Keep On Walking - 3:45#You And Me My Love - 3:11#Third Eye - 6:21...
" – 3:19- Written by - Roy AyersRoy AyersRoy Ayers is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer and vibraphone player. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk .- Biography :Ayers...
- Written by - Roy Ayers
Personnel
Credits adapted from album booklet liner notes.- Recorded by Russell "The Dragon" Elevado
- Mixed by D'Angelo and Russell "The Dragon" Elevado
- Produced by D'Angelo and Raphael Saadiq
- Assistant engineer: Steve Mandel
- Recorded and mixed at Electric Lady Studios, New York
- Mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound, New York
- All vocals performed by D'Angelo
- Vocal arrangement by D'Angelo
- Musical arrangement: D'Angelo and Raphael Saadiq
- Guitar: C. Edward Alford
- Bass and Guitar: Raphael Saadiq
- All other instruments: D'Angelo
Charts
| Year | Peak positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
Hot 100 Airplay | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart is the airplay component chart of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It is not the R&B subset of The Hot 100 Airplay, but rather a separate panel of R&B stations in urban markets used for the R&B/Hip-Hop chart... |
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| 2000 | 25 | 2 | 17 | 1 | ||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | ||||||
External links
- "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Lyrics at Yahoo! MusicYahoo! MusicYahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
- Playlist: Video Saved the Radio Star at MovmntMovmntmovmnt magazine is an urban-leaning lifestyle magazine which was co-founded in 2006 by David Benaym and Danny Tidwell. The magazine has featured columns by Mario Spinetti, Mia Michaels, Robert Battle, Debbie Allen, Alisan Porter, Rasta Thomas, and Frank Conway...