Search Internet musical archives. A variety of musical archives online offer their collections to the public, and you can use them to search for an artist's name or song title. If you only know a part of the artist's name or song title, you can enter this information in an archive search, and it may lead you to the correct artist or song. (See Resources.)
Search the Internet for images if you have an idea of what the performer looks like. Enter "R&B" in a Web image search engine. The artist may appear in the first few pages of results if they have produced a large body of work. The images contain tags that identify the person in the image.
Search using the sub-genre of R&B to which the artist belongs. Sub-genres of R&B, such as soul or funk, are unique styles of music within R&B. If you can identify the sub-genre the artist or song belongs to, you can include this in your search criteria.
Visit a record store. Employees of record stores often devote themselves to the study of musical forms, their history and minute details surrounding artists and songs. They can help you identify, or at least narrow down, your search for an artist or song.
Search for lyrics online. If you know a lyric or two, enter the lyric in a search engine and review the results. You can sometimes find the name of an artist or song with only a few lyrics.
Research in your local library. Libraries have many books on music history, anthropology and sociology that detail the lives and works of past artists. In addition, libraries have extensive music collections with anthologies of artists and musical genres.
Contact the radio station if you heard the artist on the radio. Many radio stations have their current playlist available online or can tell you the most recent artists played on the air. This method works best if you call or visit the radio's website within a few minutes of the song's broadcast.