Chicago Hip-Hop/R&B duo ConSoul formed in 2015. The duo features Singer-Songwriter/Actress/Dancer Shantel Cribbs and Poet/Rapper/Songwriter/Screenwriter Jina Ballenger. Shantel, a Michigan native grew up singing in the church choir and began songwriting at the age of 12. She began studying Theatre in Detroit, where she started performing across the Metro Detroit area. Soon after, she moved to Chicago to study Musical Theatre at Columbia College Chicago. Jina, a Chicago native has been a storyteller in every meaning of the word since writing a children’s book as a Kindergartener. Jina took a dive into slam poetry in high school by taking the crown for many poetry slams. Soon after, she took her love for the arts and storytelling to Columbia College Chicago to learn the craft of screenwriting. At Columbia, Jina continued to write and perform poetry across Chicago, but couldn’t resist to hear a beat behind it. Jina and Shantel met at Columbia. In October 2015, they performed at their first event as a hip-hop/R&B duo. This was the birthing of ConSoul. They continued their passion by booking shows on and off campus. Their first original song “Queendom” was written in 2016 and performed live at a band competition at The Metro called “Biggest Mouth.” They won 1st place and landed an opportunity to open up for Sir The Baptist! Queendom became their first debut single, which released in 2019. ConSoul is very eager to be releasing their debut EP “P.O.V”.