Director of D’Angelo’s ‘Untitled’ Music Video Remembers Him as a ‘Really Beautiful Soul’

Paul Hunter is remembering D’Angelo, with whom he worked in 1999 for an iconic music video.

The music video director reflected on the “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” shoot he directed for the soul legend, who died on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 51. The steamy music video cemented the late “Brown Sugar” singer as a sex symbol.

“We talked about how great the song was and how much of a great place he was in,” Hunter told Rolling Stone in an article published on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

“The goal was to make a stripped-down, unfiltered music video of D’Angelo performing the song in a really honest way. We wanted to light him beautifully and just make it very honest and raw.”

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“We lost a really beautiful soul,” added the music video director. “And someone who really gave a lot to the world, to the community, to the culture.”

Hunter and D’Angelo’s then-manager, Dominique Trenier, worked with the singer, whose real name was Michael Eugene Archer, on the 1999 video, which was as effortless as it was sexy.

The “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” music video features D’Angelo seemingly naked (he was actually wearing low-rise pants) singing with very few camera cuts throughout the clip.

“It was really simple: We lit him with a soft top light and had him on the turntable, so it was difficult to have the camera move around him and keep him lit a certain way,” Hunter recalled, adding that the “very simple execution” would let the audience connect with the singer.

“It was actually two shots weaved together. The camera essentially stayed in one place, and then we rotated D and the light moved in a way that kept him lit right.”

Ultimately, Hunter wanted to “capture his soul in a very honest way.”

D’Angelo’s family released a statement about his death on Oct. 14. “After a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer, we are heartbroken to announce that Michael D’Angelo Archer, known to his fans around the world as D’Angelo, has been called home, departing this life today, October 14th, 2025.”

“We are saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind.”

The added: “We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time but invite you all join us in mourning his passing while also celebrating the gift of song that he has left for the world.”

A source previously told PEOPLE that the four-time Grammy winner was “never” comfortable with being considered a “sex symbol” after his 2000 Voodoo album cover came out, featuring him shirtless and baring his abs.

The “chiseled machismo man that people fell in love with, that wasn’t his natural aesthetic. He was naturally a bigger guy,” the source said.

“He never was comfortable being a sex symbol, but also he didn’t like people seeing him on his heavier side, so he was always really conflicted. He was a heavy smoker and a drinker.”