Where Has R&B Gone?

I was thinking of what to write about next as I was conversing over the phone with a girlfriend of mine and she brought up the question...what's happened to R&B?  It was a good point.  Think about the R&B music of yesteryear compared to that of our "R&B" music of today and there is a distinct difference in sounds.  First of all what happened to R&B artists like Boyz II Men, Brian Mcknight, Joe, and Maxwell?

Of course we do have artists today like R. Kelly, Anthony Hamilton, Mary J. Blige, Musiq Soulchild just to name a few.  However, somehow they have flown way under the radar of music programming selections you hear on your radio.  Instead we hear Usher, Chris Brown, Rhianna, Beyonce, and dare I say even...Justin Timberlake.  Let's be frank here.  Beyonce is not R&B.  She's a pop artist.  She has a beautiful voice and a strong falsetto but her voice does not have an R&B sound.

Jon B. was an artist that came out onto the scene in 1995 with Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and both artists have left the scene...although Jon B is making a comeback (:::sigh:::).  I guess I'm just trying to figure out what happened between 1995 and 2012?  Has time changed the course of the sound of R&B?  Has R&B become a sound that has become more of a fad like synthesizers from the 80s or vinyl records from the 70s?  Within the confines of our ears we are now used to hearing sounds that project a reverb pitch.  This reverberation has replaced the actual "vocal sound" that naturally comes out of an artist's lungs.  The term "Rhythm and Blues" itself stemmed from music with soul and carried roots from generations back of African American singers who sang in churches and revivals where it was more spirit-driven than music that was made for profit.

As decades progressed from the Jazz era to Motown, R&B music has facilitated a major influence in music that spoke to the soul for people of all races, and not just for Blacks.  However, now it just seems like artists are selling their soul---so to speak just to make an easy buck.  Or perhaps music for the soul is no longer what people want to listen to.  I don't know, but I miss the old school R&B music of our time.