She first gained attention for competing in the television shows Produce 101 and Unpretty Rapstar before debuting as a solo artist on November 5, 2017.

Soyeon was promoted to a full-time member of the Korea Music Copyright Association on January 31, 2024, [3][4] joining singers IU and BoA as the only female idols on the list.

She quit to pursue a career in music after seeing Big Bang perform; Soyeon secretly attended and failed around 20 to 30 singing auditions.

[10] In January 2016, Soyeon appeared as a representative trainee for Cube Entertainment in the first season of the girl group survival show Produce 101.

[19][20][21] She was credited in writing the lyrics, music and arrangement for both their debut song "Latata" and their next single "Hann",[22] both of which were well received and commercially successful.

[27] The K/DA incarnation of the character Akali, whose vocals were performed by Soyeon, proved to be especially popular, becoming a frequent subject of fan art and cosplay.

She wrote on her online fan community site, "I deeply regret that I used an illegal copy of the program; as far as I remember, I used it when I first learned songwriting.

The apology came days after a behind-the-scenes YouTube video of preparing the I Made EP, produced by the agency, showed icons of the software's illegal copy on her laptop screen.

[31][32] A collaboration with Becky G, Keke Palmer, Thutmose and Duckwrth titled "Giants" was released as a single alongside an animated music video on November 10, 2019.

[35] "Giants" debuted at number fifteen and nineteen at Billboard's Rap and R&B/Hip hop Digital Songs Sales charts, respectively.

All of the songs on the album, including the lead single "Oh My God", was written and composed by Soyeon and longtime collaborator Yummy Tone.

[40] On July 22, Soyeon helped write and featured on DJ Hyo's "Dessert" with rapper Loopy, a jungle pop song with "bouncy" beat and moombahton rhythm, synthesizer-based hook, claps and whistles, and lyrics expressing desire for a sweet love rather than a difficult and complex one.

[46] On December 16, it was confirmed that Soyeon, Pentagon's Hui, and AB6IX's Lee Dae-hwi would produce songs for the top seven competition on Mnet's audition show CAP-TEEN.

[49] The same month, Soyeon appeared on Face ID [ko], a KakaoTV original entertainment show revealing the everyday lifestyle of celebrities through their phones, which aired every Monday for three weeks from January 25.

[55][56] On August 23, 2023, Soyeon collaborated with LG Uplus and a music video was released titled "I'm Okay (아무너케)", which garnered more than 9 million views on YouTube in a week.

[63] She was heavily influenced by her rap teacher in high school, who Soyeon recalled "taught [her] the basics like how to write good lyrics and how to melt in your sincerity.

[72] For I Trust album concept, Soyeon revealed that she got inspired by watching an isekai anime, KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World!

In the production of the group's debut song "Latata", Soyeon began with moombahton beats and simple instruments such as percussion, putting them on loop and coated them with melody.

"[81][82][83] Poet Seo Hyo-in wrote that Soyeon "covers all aspects of producing, from composition and writing, rap making and setting the concept" but "doesn't overshadow the other members."

Soyeon expressed her desire for more women to take part in record production,[85] believing that there are no gender boundaries when it comes to arts forms like music, performances and gaming.

"[87] In June 2020 interview with MTV, on using the pronoun "she" in "Oh My God", Soyeon remarked that she "didn't want to limit that 'she' to a certain being or a certain definition, so it's open to anything" and that "all kinds of love are valuable and must be respected.

"[88] Media outlets have labelled Soyeon a versatile artist, "triple threat", and Alpha girl due to her success as a rapper, singer, and songwriter and skills in record production and dancing.

's Songyee,[99] Craxy's KaRin[100] Lightsum's Jian and Juhyeon,[101][102] Lunarsolar's Eseo,[103] H1-Key's Hwiseo,[104] Blank2y's Siwoo,[105] and Adya's Sena,[106] Purple Kiss' Yuki.

[107] South Korean producer and songwriter Ryan S. Jhun expressed his admiration for the competition Queendom, on which (G)I-dle appeared, and shared that he hopes to work with Soyeon one day.

[108] During the recording of "My Name is Malgeum (내이름 맑음)", QWER member Hina recalled, "Since my voice has a lot of nasal sounds, she told me, 'Sound like a man, don't be shy, and try your best.'

[110] In February 2023, Soyeon donated ₩20 million to the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association in order to aid those affected by the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.