JUST A QUESTION...

Blu Cantrell was a great singer, very pretty and as this video proves, has tons of personality. I'm not sure why she didn't score other hits though I believe she was more successful in Europe. But my real question is WHAT HAPPENED TO R&B? This is a genre of music I've enjoyed all my life yet it seems to have disappeared or really taken a back burner to it's former prominence. There's Beyonce, who is sort of r&b. Other artists like Rihanna and Usher used to make slower tempo tunes (Umbrella, U Remind Me) but then jumped on the cheesy dance music bandwagon. Justin Timberlake will have an occasional hit and there's one-offs like Cee-Lo's F#ck You, Get Lucky and Blurred lines. But does it strike anyone as odd that soulful singers like Mary J., Amerie, Ciara, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Angie Stone, Musiq Soulchild, Maxwell, Faith Evans, Maya, Fantasia, Brandy, Monica, Janet Jackson, Sunshine Anderson, R. Kelly, Mariah, Jennifer Hudson, Zhane, Janet Jackson and Ashanti have just disappeared? OK, I don't actually miss Ashanti. But is the music industry in such dire straights that they just promote only the most formulaic stuff? Blu's hit featured a retro jazzy horn sound, an r&b tempo, slamming vocals, humor and tons of attitude--it had a unique, unforgettable sound. When I play stuff like this people love it. Wouldn't that indicate to the industry that there's a demand for it? I'm not too knowledgable about internet radio, but can someone please direct me to a site that plays new r&b? I look around iTunes and find good music from Ledisi, Raheem DeVaughn, Jaheim, etc, but these artists don't seem to get much of a push despite making great sounds. How does an entire genre just vanish? And why haven't we heard anything new from Whitney?