Star Wars: Rain vs. Seven, Lee Hyori vs. BoA

As Melon wrote, "Let the real star wars begin." KPOP heavyweights Rain, Seven, Lee Hyori, and BoA--all long-time music industry rivals--will each release a new album this year. They are the nation's old favorites, so they will bring fierce competition to the KPOP scene, not only with each other, but with the new crop of popular idol groups as well.

First up to bat, Rain hopes to release his 4 to 5 track mini-album at the end of April. He put his singing career on hold while trying out a producing role in Hollywood, but this veteran entertainer expects to wreck major havoc on the Korean music market once again.

Hot on the heels of Rain, Seven's comeback is slated for May, although we have yet to hear what his concept or album direction will be. His last album release was 'Se7olution' in November of 2006, making this his first album in over 3 years. He did put out a digital hit single in 2007 and in 2009 he released his American debut single, 'Girl,' but it has been a while since he has put out a collection of brand new songs.

KPOP queens Lee Hyori and BoA are planning huge comebacks as well. The former will drop a new album at the end of March or at the beginning of April, while BoA will be the last of the four planning a comeback in August.

Lee Hyori is returning after a year and a half, proclaiming on her fan cafe site, "I'm excited for the 4th album, but also feeling nervous. We've finally finished 8 months of recording. I'll do my best to get the album released as soon as possible. "

BoA plans to launch her new album in August, which will end her work of 5 years abroad. Commenting on the new record, SM Entertainment said, "There is still on-going discussion regarding the exact comeback date but we are considering August 25th."