K-Pop's 'Big 2' girl groups have clashed in the music arena. Following Girl's Generation's release of their mini-album 'Mr. Mr.' on the 24^th, 2NE1 released their second studio album 'Crush' four days later. With the Wonder Girls and Kara suffering from recent member problems, the K-Pop spotlight has now moved its focus to the remaining two giants. The focus, however, doesn't restrict itself to the girls; this is a battle between SM and YG as well. At the end, who will remain victorious? Who will sell the most? Who will grab the spotlight?

Believe it or not, 2NE1 and Girl's Generation have now become the seniors of the K-pop idol music industry. Girl's Generation debuted in 2007 whilst 2NE1 did so in 2009, making it 8 and 6 years since their respective debuts. During their careers, both groups have received tremendous amount of support from their agencies as well as accumulated indispensable information such as the know-hows of the music industry. Because of all these factors they have emerged successful with their unique music, image and characters.  With the recent storm of idol debuts dying down, it is quite impossible to set our attention anywhere else than to these two girl groups.

Girl's Generation's mini-album 'Mr. Mr.' is a refined pop album. Collaborations with U.S. composers as well as the integration of dance, synth-pop and ballad genres have created a 6-song track list that makes this album a fulfilling one to hear. Their title track 'Mr. Mr.' was composed by R&B/pop production duo 'The Underdogs' (Harvey Mason Jr. and Damon Thomas), who are known to have worked with Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé. The duo was responsible for producing a song that has a strong beat as well as an R&B feel. This is a rather new sound for Girl's Generations, since they are used to promoting title tracks that are more pop such as 'Gee' and 'Genie'.

2NE1, on the other hand, has released an album that is predominantly hip-hop and electronic dance. Their album, however, also has a track list composed of several genres. For example, one of their title tracks 'Come Back Home' (composed by YG's resident producer Teddy) has hints of hip-hop, Reggae and R&B.

Both groups have chosen the safe route. In 2011, Girl's Generation released two albums, 'The Boys' and 'I Got A Boy', which were met weak responses from their fans and audiences alike. Because of the fact that people were used to seeing the girls perform under a 'dance pop' sound, the group's attempt at a different genre was met with criticism and awkwardness. 2NE1, who before 'Crush' released the singles 'Falling in Love' and 'Do You Love Me', have also decided to return to their hip-hop roots. Because these singles were experimental, the response from their fans was also weak and didn't achieve the level of success they wanted.

It seems like, in a way, these two girl groups will have to stick with their pre-determined image in order to success. Will they be able to experiment with other genres and still capture the hearts of their audiences? If not, who will win? Will it be 'dance pop' Girl's Generation or 'hip-hop' 2NE1? Who will have the last laugh?