“My dad passed away and that kind of stopped me for a minute and then it kind of became a project to pay homage to him because he really was I would say he is definitely the reason why I sing and I’m an artist today.”
Hilary Mwelwa’s creativity has run itself on a continuous current of soul inspiration with a voice that honors her ancestors. The proud acknowledgement of heritage while moving forward in a contemporary world is the crux of her Nasalifya album. The title means “thank you” in Namwanga, which is her mother’s tongue, and represents the kind of gratitude one feels when life shifts in a permanent way. Mwelwa experienced that movement with the loss of her father, who nurtured and celebrated her artistry. Unlike some families who shun their artist kin, Mwelwa was and still is loved by her family as Hil St. Soul. Nasalifya is a heart-heavy thank you for her foundation of longtime supporters.
Whether she is singing about the world or the end of a romantic pairing, her voice still cradles your ears in a velvet embrace. On the day of our conversation, she was in her native Zambia. We talked about the footnotes to Nasalifya and ambitions for the future.
The Organic Alchemy with Regi Myrix
When I ask her about the sonic leap from her last project to this one, Mwelwa describes a process that was less about “planning” an album and more about allowing one to emerge. Unlike the sprawling collaborative nature of Back To Love, which saw her experimenting with various producers and ideas, Nasalifya is a tight-knit affair born from a singular, steady synergy.
“It was an organic process,” she explains. “I never really stop creating. Even if I have a project on, I’m always playing around with ideas… those ideas usually become entities of their own.” That “entity” found its perfect partner in producer Regi Myrix. Their working relationship is built on a spontaneity that Hilary finds vital; they don’t sit down to discuss a specific direction, choosing instead to “vibe” and bounce off one another. “Regi was sending me some stuff… I would just listen to tracks that I love, vibe to them, and that is really how that whole project came about,” she notes.
While some producers might try to pigeonhole her into the “neo-soul” sound of her debut, Soul Organic, Mwelwa credits Regi with pushing her to stay open-minded. Whether the tracks lean into “old school grooves” or more contemporary soundscapes, she relies on that gut-level connection to the backdrop. “As long as I am feeling it that energy, that kind of synergy I can work with it.” Despite the smooth production sessions, the emotional core of the album didn’t fully reveal itself until the very end. “The title of the album, Nasalifya, was the last song I finished recording on the project,” Mwelwa reveals. She had started the track midway through the process, but the world stopped when her father passed away. When she eventually returned to the studio, the song—and the album—transformed into a vessel for homage. “I kind of wanted to do a tribute to him to say thank you to him because that’s what Nasalifya means in my mom’s language, which is Namwanga.” While the project is a “thank you” to her longtime supporters, it is primarily a love letter to the man whose record collection first sparked her fire. “He really was… the reason why I sing and I’m an artist today. Just off of the music that he would play really inspired me.
Vibrate High: An Introvert’s Collaboration
While Nasalifya is largely a singular vision, it features a standout collaboration that broke Hilary’s typical “lone wolf” creative habits. “I think I’m quite an introvert when it comes to the creative process,” she admits. “I don’t have that many features… it’s just never really happened.”
That streak ended with the ethereal “Vibrate High,” a track born from a connection made by Regi Myrix. Mwelwa had long admired Lina Loi, remembering her debut album. When she found herself struggling to pen verses, Regi suggested bridging the gap. “Myself and Lina hit it off straight away,” Hilary says. “She loved the track and started throwing ideas… we were just kind of bouncing off one another.” The result was more than just a song; it was what Hilary describes as a “beautiful relationship of process.” “I really do like her voice and it complements my voice… I feel really lucky that I got to work with her.”
The working chemistry with Myrix is something that came about effortlessly. When I ask how she perceived their ability to make music with such ease, she describes it as a rare alignment of creative values. “I like the kind of spontaneity he has in his creative process and I kind of feel like we’re definitely kindred spirits,” she shares. “We are on the same page in terms of our outlook on music just trying out different ideas. It seems to work and gel well together.”
Mwelwa credits this “eclectic approach” as the secret to their success, noting that Myrix’s willingness to experiment mirrors her own refusal to be pigeonholed. “It’s never sort of like we sat down and discussed what direction we are going to take in a project; we just bounce off one another and we just vibe.” This fluidity allows the music to lead the way. “He’s just always constantly pushing himself, creating productions, trying out different ideas. A lot of the times he would play me something, present it to me, or I would just hear it and if I love it, I just work with it.”
That shared spontaneity with Regi also allowed room for sharper, more observational commentary. On the standout track “The System Is So Broken,” Mwelwa moves from the internal world of the soul to an external critique of the global landscape. “That song was really inspired by the current climate what the world is experiencing,” she explains. “I don’t think it’s a UK thing or a west thing; it really is like all the crazy shifts that’s going on at the moment. It’s just a little microscopic observation of the things that I have observed.”
The song’s origins are deeply personal, born from dialogues with a late friend who provided a sounding board for these global anxieties. “I wrote it after talking to a friend that passed away,” she recalls. “He was very much a wise guy and we had these conversations about what was going on in the world… I think it started with COVID, at that time we got to see things through a different lens.”
For Mwelwa, the track is a capture of those heavy emotions, rooted in a life lived with a keen eye for justice. “I was raised with awareness,” she notes, “and that is one of my favorite songs.”
The awareness Mwelwa carries into her music is a direct inheritance from her parents, who fostered her love for the craft even when they expected her to follow a more traditional academic path. While she initially studied science, her parents were “shocked and surprised” when they finally heard her sing but they quickly became her fiercest fans.
“They were just really supportive of my whole career,” she says with a visible pride. “They always encouraged me and said you must continue. Even before my dad passed away, he would say it’s what you love doing so you must keep doing it.”
That encouragement culminated in a poignant moment just months before his passing. While Mwelwa was caring for him, her single “Back In The Day” recorded with Myrix came across the airwaves.
“He just heard it… and he said, ‘Oh that voice sounds very familiar, is that you?’” she shares. “I was like, ‘Yes it is, Dad.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, that is such a lovely song.’ That was kind of the last song he heard.” While he didn’t live to hear the full body of work that bears his tribute, he left her with the ultimate validation of her gift.
Future Movements & Cultural Roots
When I asked her about her next moves and her next video, she admits to already be working on new music. “I’m just going to keep on creating and spread my wings and get into some movies. I don’t mean acting you know I mean like writing music I’m always reaching and thinking of ideas like that.” As for her visual direction, she intends to keep her cameras pointed toward the motherland. She expresses a deep love for Zambia’s culture and visual backdrop, noting a specific mission to change the global perception of the continent.
“I wanted to share the beauty of Zambia there’s a lot more to it than what we know and see in the media… so I wanted to share that narrative,” she notes. “There’s so much space and green and family and a lot of community,” she shares. “You never really feel alone here because everyone is friendly. I just loved sharing my vision.”
That vision of home extends even to the dinner table. Mwelwa shared one of her favorite foods. She points to a specific dish that remains close to her heart: “Pumpkin leaves is one of my favorite especially the way my mom fixes it there’s nuts in it, mushrooms and carrots in it. Just the taste of the pumpkin leaves, it’s such a unique beautiful flavor”
Despite her 25-year tenure since Soul Organic, Mwelwa remains a sharp observer of where R&B is headed. When I asked who she sees as the “legacy artists” of the next two decades, she pointed to the resilience of UK singer Raye and the timelessness of Jill Scott and Jazmine Sullivan. But it’s a newcomer that has her most excited: EJ Jones, the young singer from Memphis whose track “Gas Station Love”emerged last year. “I just love his voice,” she says, her tone lightening. “He reminds me of a young KC from Jodeci kind of voice… he’s definitely going to be around for a while.“
For Hil St. Soul, Nasalifya isn’t just an album release; it’s a spiritual reset. Whether she is celebrating the new generation or looking forward to a long-awaited return to the U.S. stage, she is moving with the confidence of someone who knows exactly where they come from. With a new album, a renewed sense of purpose, and her father’s blessing echoing in her ears, Hilary Mwelwa is doing exactly what she was always meant to do: keep creating.
