Hong made her debut in small film and television roles. In 2006, she had a small part in the movie Who Slept With Her? (누가 그녀와 잤을까) and she also played a role in Yeon Gaesomun, a historical Korean drama that takes place in the seventh century.
Hong began her music career in 2007, with SWAN (스완), a Korean girl group consisting of members, Han Ji-na, Hong Jin-young, Heo Yoon-mi and Kim Yeon-ji, with their debut song "Call Me When You Hear This Song" (이 노래 들으면 전화해), featuring Coolapika.
In 2009, her agency (CCM) CEO suggested her to switch to become a solo trot singer, a suggestion she initially resisted given her young age, as trot is regarded as an "older" genre of music in Korea. Nonetheless, she released her first digital single, "Love Battery" (사랑의 배터리). On August 6, 2010, she returned with a new digital single entitled, "My Love". On June 30, 2011, Hong along with many of South Korea's rising stars sang at the Changwon Sports Complex in a concert called "Changwon's First Anniversary Hope Concert, We Are". On March 22, 2013, she returned with the release of the digital single, "Boogie Man" (부기맨). During the year of 2014 she had parted ways from Core Contents Media alongside Davichi.
In 2012, Hong Jin-young completed her doctoral degree at the Chosun University in Business Administration. She also holds the Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Trade program from the same university.
Hong is well known for her multiple appearances on popular music variety shows like Immortal Songs 2 and King of Mask Singer. In 2014, she was a panelist and also in a virtual marriage with Namkoong Min on a popular variety show, We Got Married. In November of that year, Hong released her first EP, Life Note (인생노트) with the title song “Cheer Up” (산다는 건). Her virtual husband, Namkoong Min, appeared as her love interest in the music video in a cameo role.
In 2016, she released her second EP, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life (화양연화), with title song “Thumb Up” (엄지 척) and “Love Wifi” (사랑의 와이파이). She also released a cover of a well-known Chinese song called “The Moon Represents My Heart” (月亮代表我的心/월량대표아적심). For the Korean remake, Hong wrote the lyrics herself.
Hong collaborated with Comedian Kim Young-chul to release the electrot (EDM and trot) single "Ring Ring" (따르릉) on April 20, 2017, for which they won Best Trot at the 2017 MelOn Music Awards.
In 2018, Hong released a retro trot style digital single, "Good Bye" (잘가라), composed by her long-time collaborator Jo Young-soo (who also composed “Love Battery” and “Cheer Up”) and well-known K-pop lyricist Kim Eana. She wrote and composed a second electrot single "I Kicked My Luck Off" (복을 발로 차버렸어) for Kang Ho-dong, which was released through SM Station.
