2NE1 is dead, long live 2NE1.

This is one of my favorite videos from 2NE1. It’s a dance practice, so it’s not especially polished or produced. But the melody from “Come Back Home” is so haunting and the choreo flows so well with the song structure that I can’t help but to love it.

Looking back at 2NE1’s debut song, “Fire,” they debuted right out of the gate as a non-sexy girl group with attitude. It isn’t like they want to snuff out their femininity–because they don’t–but I appreciate how these girls don’t play the “cute” or “coy” or “sexy” roles that have built-in body language. They are not pre-packaged like Girls Generation or many of the girl groups in the current year.

If Twice is the girl group that I go back to for a “cheerleader in my pocket,” 2NE1 is the girl group I tap into when I need to skip past cheerleader to unleashing my inner badass. (Naturally 2NE1 gave us the girl anthem of the century.) Check out CL’s swagger in the dance practice above–she’s legit.

2NE1’s distinctive swagger always makes me wonder if they contributed to the rise of toxic feminism, when women try to imitate men to their own detriment. Masculine influence is definitely an issue–many of my influences are men–especially with ambitious or low-agreeability women because those traits are so rare in the female community.

But if you look at 2NE1’s members, the masculine swagger is balanced out by distinctively feminine traits. CL is elegant. Minzy has a maternal vibe. Bom is basically an anime girl. Dara is too delicate for the blunt edges of pop music. Bom and Dara would be completely out of place in a masculine song, except as the feminine foil, and they hold their own in “I am the Best.”

It’s definitely “too far” in terms of the overt message, but sometimes you need to go “too far” internally so that you get to “far enough” externally. Like negotiating with yourself–you set the anchor so far out that even if you get halfway, you’ve accomplished much more than you would have anyway.

2NE1 is no longer with us, but I’m glad that we had them for a little while.

Sometimes I get so frustrated with the laissez faire attitude of YG Entertainment, for not providing the structure and discipline of SM Ent to capitalize on the talent of their artists. You sign good people–let them sing!