Background
Kang Ji-young was born on January 18, 1994, in Paju, South of Korea.
姜知英
Kang Ji-young was born on January 18, 1994, in Paju, South of Korea.
She attended Bongilcheon Middle School,Muhak Women"s High School. She eventually graduated in February 2012.
She debuted at the age of 15 as a third grade middle school student. She is one of the 2 members that joined after member Kim Sung Hee left. She sang Girls" Generation"s song "Kissing You" for her audition.
Kang is the cousin of the Korean popular singer Nova Scotia Yoon-G.
Kara (2008-2014)
The group debuted on March 29, 2007.
In 2008, Jiyoung joined the group after member Kim Sunghee decided to leave. The group eventually made their return with Rock U. Their comeback saw a change in the group"s original "sexy and mature" image to a "cute and playful" appeal.
On December 4, 2008, the group started their comeback on M! Countdown with "Pretty Girl". In February 2009, the group released their second mini-album "Honey".
"Honey" became the group"s first #1 single when it topped the M! Countdown and The Music Trend.
In late July 2009, Kara revealed their second album named "Revolution". Due to the popularity of their songs Wanna and Mister, Kara"s overall popularity increased. In February 2010, Kara started promotions with their third mini-album "Lupin".
In August 2010, Kara officially debut in Japan with "Mister".
After their successful debut in Japan, Kara released their fourth mini-album Jumping in November 2010. She performed with the group for the last time at the 2013 MBC Gayo Daejejeon on December 31, 2013.
The group performed a medley of their past hit singles along with "Damaged Lady", from the group"s fourth album Full Bloom. On January 15, 2014, it was announced that she would leave the group once her contract expired in April 2014 to focus on her studies with acting and language skills in London.
Acting & debut as a soloist (2014-present)
After leaving KARA, she signed with agency Sweet Power to resume her activities in Japan as an actress, using her name in kanji, 知英.
She made her first appearance in the 19th Tokyo Girls Collection fashion show in Saitama Super Arena on September 6. Jiyoung"s first work in Japan was the live-action of Hell Teacher Nube, with her role as the heroine, Yukime. On December 2015, Sony Music had already announced that Jiyoung would debut as a singer under the name of JY. Her first song as a soloist is The Last Farewell (最後のサヨナラ, saigo no sayonara) used as an OST for Japan NTV drama Higanbana.
On Friday, March 18, JY drop her first solo European Parliament titled Radio, consisting of three tracks.
Out of the three, two music videos have been produced and have been released on her official Vevo and YouTube channels. Radio was composed by London-based songwriter and producer MNEK while Darren Craig directed the music video for Radio.
Radio snagged the Number. 2 spot on the iTunes People’s Top Song Chart beating western artists like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.
Radio will be marketed not only in of Korea and Japan, but also in the United States and Asia.
She is a former member of the Korean girl group Kara. At the time of her admission, she was only 14 years old making her the youngest member of the group which was previously Nicole Jung.