Estelle releases her new album in the UK this week to very little fanfare. Considering her US success, Billboard R&B Top 20 and now climbing Hot 100 with 'Thank You' and solid US reviews for her album and ok sales debut despite limited airplay of a first single (unlike American Boy had, Thank You is building), she is still struggling to get attention here in the UK.

She recently said she went to the US where R&B is taken seriously. I agree on certain levels. With 1xtra and other stations on the radio and on TV there is less of that bias for rock/indie & pop that was around for years. And in the UK in particular there is an appreciation for a number of genres within the R&B umbrella although strictly speaking Grime etc are almost of the size to be considered a separate genre altogether. However traditional R&B struggles here in the UK unless from major US artists. Unless its Beyonce, Alicia Keys etc it does not traditionally get the support from radio. Obviously we aren't half the size of the US but it is a shame that artists such as Mary J, Monica etc don't get any major airplay (although I do think sometimes their music isn't up to scratch).

What perturbs me even more is when good UK R&B artists such as Estelle that have the ability and talent to really crack the tough and competitive market in the US don't get the love they deserve in the UK. Estelle's Thank You, personally one of my most listened to songs of 2012 so far, and critically well received has only JUST made it onto the 1xtra playlist and as a remix. Even with the rather good buzz track Back To Love she has struggled to get the UK support she deserves.

So as her third album gets its release and she begins to do some promo, I hope the radio stations get behind this talented artists and show some support for one of the increasing number of UK artists representing & selling well in the US!

@beonthebutton

I do agree with you on some aspects of that. I love Mary J, it pisses me off that she does not get a lot of airplay. Like c'mon she is R&B. Not sexy steamy R&B, but she is known for being classy. However she can sure sell albums by the dozen so I'm happy with that part of her career. And she is a very respected artist in her genre. I was actually happy to see her song Mr Wrong on Tv, 3 times last night, but it was on R&B channels.

With Estelle, I can't blame her for trying US promotion more than UK. It's a huge market. If she decides to try her luck in US then fair play to her. Look at Marsha Ambrosius, she didn't get anywhere in the UK despite being British. She went over to US and her debut album went to #2, and 2 of her singles charted in the US 100.

I do too, it is sad.

Maybe its because all her songs are a load of crap and she cant sing a note in tune?

Listened to the album and it's got some great songs on there! Still not even charting on the Top 100 iTunes album though!

America do appreciation r&b more than what we do. We seem to be too focussed on dance music at the moment. Actually we always have to be honest. I can totally understand Estelle. But her material and herself are not very good so I can also factor that as why she isn't doing well.

Even Radio 1Xtra, has practically no impact on the charts. Firstly, because it doesn't get that many listeners, as it's a digital-only station. Secondly, because of the demographics that it targets; they're probably less likely to legally download music.

Some songs that even get properly playlisted by Radio 1Xtra don't even touch the top 1000 on iTunes.

I would like RnB (and most other genres) to get more popular here though. We need to move on from dance music.