Untitled (How Does IT Feel) - Legacy and Influence

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 off 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".