"Musicology" is a song by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

, and title track from his 2004 album of the same name. The song is an obvious ode to James Brown's style of funk music popularized in the early 1970s. The song is also reminiscent of Prince's own " The Work, pt. 1", from his 2001 album ''

The Rainbow Children ''The Rainbow Children'' is the twenty-fourth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on November 20, 2001 by NPG Records and Redline Entertainment. It was also released through Prince's website earlier in the year. It ...

''. The B-side of the single is the ''Musicology'' track "On the Couch", a seductive

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

with a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

flavor. In addition, Prince released a song on his website titled "Magnificent", which was listed as the "virtual B-side" to "Musicology". In the United States, the song received airplay on Urban Adult Contemporary radio stations. The song had larger success as a video with television airplay, as it was played regularly on MTV,

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

, and VH1. Outside the US, the song had considerable success on the pop charts in a number of countries. Specifically, "Musicology" went Top 40 in Argentina, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland. The song won the

Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance The Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers of quality traditional R&B vocal performances. ...

at the

47th Annual Grammy Awards The 47th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004. They were hosted by Queen Lati ...

Charts

References

{{authority control 2004 singles Music videos directed by Sanaa Hamri Prince (musician) songs Songs written by Prince (musician) Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance NPG Records singles Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) 2004 songs