BIO: Hill St. Soul - Featured Artist

Singer Hilary Mwelwa of Hil St. Soul (pronounced Hill Street Soul) is not your average R&B diva. She holds a degree in biological sciences, hails from Zambia, grew up in London and admits to having a teenage fascination with the music of Annie Lennox and Blondie along with R&B/soul icons Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. In fact Hilary is anything but average. One listen to her bluesy honey-toned alto, poignant self-penned lyrics and soul-drenched vocal approach and it is obvious that this R&B diva is truly something special.

Hil St. Soul's two previous releases - 2004's Copasetik & Cool and 2006's SOULidified - both landed top 20 hits on the Urban AC charts and further established the R&B/soul duo (Hilary Mwelwa and Victor Redwood Sawyerr, founder of the UK hip hop group Blak Twang) as one of the most honest and refreshing R&B acts to emerge in years. USA Today calls Hil St. Soul's vocals 'Always enticing' while The Associated Press declares 'Hil St. Soul has an organic soulful sound that is all their own.'

Hil St. Soul's highly anticipated third album, Black Rose will be released on June 10th. Black Rose is the follow-up to the group's last critically acclaimed CD, SOULifidied which enjoyed great success at radio earning a Top 20 Urban AC hit with its first single 'Goodbye,' (whose video also was in rotation on VH1 Soul and BETJ. The second single, 'Hey Boy,' became a semi-theme song on The Michael Baisden show when Hil St. Soul reworked 'Hey Boy' to become 'Bad Boy,' in honor of Baisden aka 'The Bad Boy of Radio.'

Black Rose showcases Hilary Mwelwa's trademark soul stirring, ultra smooth and hypnotic vocals along with her poetic and self-empowering lyrics and Victor Redwood Sawyerr's tight head-nodding tracks and infectious grooves.

With the release of Black Rose Hil St. Soul is on their way to gaining the widespread attention they deserve as serious contenders on the R&B scene. Hilary confides, 'I hope that when people get to hear Black Rose they will find themselves immersed in my world. At the end of the day the experiences I write and sing about are universal. I ultimately hope that my music can uplift people and make them feel like they have gotten to know a little bit more about me as a person.'

http://www.myspace.com/hilstsoul

-- #109 Posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 --