2009 has experienced an explosion of girl groups, but where does that leave the XY side of the Korean music scene? In the past few years, we've seen new boy groups rise - in 08 alone, SHINee and 2PM broke into the industry and have since launched themselves into A-list fame. However, girl power has constantly taken the spotlight in recent months & dominated much attention, leaving most guys in the dust. allkpop has been following this female group battle for months and many readers have long since chosen their favorites. However, it's not like entertainment companies are 100% about femme fatale and estrogen. We've seen some new guy groups, especially in the past month, that have generated interest and are worth a look. Whether this is a shift of kpop trends or a temporary break from the gals, we're not sure... but check out this quick 411 on the four contestants for today's artist battle and possibly tomorrow's competition! B2ST Members: Doo Joon, AJ (Ki Kwang), Dong Woon, Jun Hyung, Hyun Seung, Yo Seob Bio: Say hello to Cube Entertainment's first boy group! Though this agency may be new, some of its members certainly aren't inexperienced - AJ debuted as a solo artist earlier this year, Doo Joon was considered for One Day and Hyun Seung was part of Big Bang before getting cut pre-debut. Now before you jump to the conclusion that this is a sixsome of failures, consider how good you must be to even be considered for those two top groups. Will B2ST be like a OneDay-Big Bang love child? Only time will tell! Debut: Very very soon! ( more... ) MBLAQ Members: Lee Joon, Jang Goon, Kim Sang Bae, Yang Seungho, Bang Chulyong Bio: "The next Rain." "Rain 2.0." These are terms we've heard get thrown around a lot in order to associate rising artists with the kpop figurehead Rain, but none of those artists can claim the title as well as MBLAQ. Why? Because MBLAQ has been chosen and molded by Rain himself, a tidbit that automatically has everyone, including various international labels, talking. This five-member group has been training for two years, and since this is under the tutelage of J Tunes Entertainment (which is also two years old), we're excited to see what this group will bring. Debut: MBLAQ is set to debut at Rain's concert on October 9th. Their first song, along with the rest of minialbum, will be released on the 14th. ( more... ) SHU-I Members: Insuk, Minho, Hyungjun, Jinsuk, Changhyun Bio: The "So Hot Union of Idols" of YG YJ Entertainment has big plans not only to take on Korea, but Asia as well! You might have come across Insuk and Changhyun before, because they were formally part of R-eaL, a 2008 group. Furthermore, Hyungjun rose to fame from his popularity as an internet ulzzang, ooooh... Not gonna lie, I wasn't blown away when I saw the cover of SHU-I's first album. But coming across this photo (more specifically, the guy on the right) made me do a double take, so I'm curious what this group has up its sleeve for us next! This song reminds me of two other popular 2009 hits, can anyone guess which ones? Debut: "Bomb Bomb Bomb", Sept 18 @ Music Bank ( more... ) JQT Bio: Insert a big fat question mark. We don't even know if this is a music group, but the mysterious "JQT" video that surfaced the net yesterday has been the talk of netizens for the past 24 hours. What do you think? ( more... ) Seeing as none of these groups were churned out by SM, JYP or YG Entertainment, I have a feeling that they will all have a difficult time afloat in the sea storm of music groups these days. However, upon further examination, it seems like each group has much potential and strengths up its sleeve that the future has yet to reveal. We know these groups have yet to show their colors so do a bit of guesswork here... Which of these four groups are you anticipating the most?