Dion Hines | Junior Forum Editor

If you’re at all in tune with pop culture, you’ll know that just over a month ago, 2024 “it-girl” Charli XCX released “Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat” — a companion remix album to the earlier-released “Brat,” — featuring guest artists on each song. Among respected industry veterans (Robyn, Julian Casablancas), current superstars (Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish), and indie darlings (Caroline Polachek, Shygirl), there’s someone else on the tracklist — someone who, at first glance, doesn’t belong. Yes, right there, on the “Von dutch” remix — no, it can’t be… Addison Rae? TikTok dancer Addison Rae? Former member of the short-lived Hype House Addison Rae? Failed actress Addison Rae? 

Yes, yes, and yes — it’s that Addison Rae. She’s here for pop domination.

Rae gained massive prominence in the 2019 TikTok boom, and — as with many online celebrities — it’s unclear exactly why she became so famous. But TikTok stardom is fickle, so in an attempt to further her marketability, Rae tried to break into the music industry, something done (to mixed reactions) by many of her contemporaries. 

In March 2021, she released her first single, “Obsessed.” Let’s get one thing out of the way — “Obsessed” is not a bad song. Yes, there are a few lyrical clunkers (“This dress so tight you can’t even speak”), but it ultimately suffers from simple mediocrity, operating like a strange unreleased Selena Gomez c-side. Rae’s vocal performance isn’t offensive, but gives the impression that she’s performing with the same level of enthusiasm she has when reading the nutritional facts of her Erewhon smoothie. 

The general public wasn’t so generous. “Obsessed” was torn apart, with people bashing the vocals, lyricism, video, and her performance of the song on The Tonight Show. Yes, many of these criticisms were valid, but Rae’s critics weren’t trying to improve her artistry. They just wanted to tear her down. It was the classic case of a celebrity, famous for no discernible talent, stepping into an industry that they knew nothing about. “Jam (Turn It Up),” anyone? 

Although Rae didn’t speak publicly about the reaction to “Obsessed” until 2023, she clearly got the memo and took time away from music the following year. During this period, demos of an unreleased album circulated the internet to a much more positive response than her first single. This change in reaction was, on one hand, because the album genuinely showed more promise. On the other hand, the people seeking out unreleased Addison Rae tracks were perhaps not representative of the wider population. But they caught something in her that the general public ignored: potential. 

Rae released the five-song EP “AR” in August of 2023, which contained “Obsessed” and four other songs — one featuring pop auteur Charli XCX. It wasn’t a commercial success, but she earned respect for herself in chronically online and pop-obsessive circles. Thus, Rae kept the ball rolling, continuing to shed the uncoolness she had been previously known for. She was seen wearing a sweater with hyperpop icon Sophie on it, claimed she would love to work with experimental artist Arca in an interview with Vogue, and appeared in more spaces with Charli XCX and her high-profile friends. 

In 2024, almost a year after Rae had released “Obsessed,” we received a new single: “Diet Pepsi.” It was apparent upon release that “Diet Pepsi” was leagues above Rae’s previous releases — with throbbing synthesizers, an earworm of a chorus, and a surprisingly earnest vocal performance (she’s getting better!), it was bound to be, at the very least, a cult favorite. 

And “Diet Pepsi” didn’t fizzle quickly — it was a smash, racking up over 170 million streams on Spotify to date, even cracking the Top 10 of the UK Billboard Hot 100, sandwiched between artists like Lady Gaga and Sabrina Carpenter. 

Beyond the commercial, it’s also clear that Rae is taking a different approach to her artistry. On “Diet Pepsi,” she employs her best Lana Del Rey sensibilities (down to the very title), creating a comparable feeling to the “Born To Die” singer circa 2012 — American flags, “young lust,” grainy visuals, and a bad boy to whom she “loses all her innocence.” And yet, despite the similarities, Rae isn’t bogged down by the existential weight of the world like Del Rey. Where the latter mourned mortality and claimed “I’ve got a war in my mind,” the former winks and giggles at the camera, letting her lover lick whipped cream off her toes. She’s in on the joke too: Isn’t this ridiculous? 

Rae could have coasted on the success of “Diet Pepsi” for a while, but we received another helping less than two months later. On “Aquamarine,” her newest single, Rae channels influences from Madonna’s “Ray of Light” and Britney Spears’ “In The Zone,” playing a flirty Parisian siren over a sparkling techno beat. “Dive into me,” she breathes. Rae is sexy, effervescent, and — most essentially — effortless. There are no real stakes. Rae is having fun, exploring her passion with a sense of levity that didn’t previously exist. So what if it flops? She doesn’t care. To any skeptics, Rae makes her intentions clear: “I’m transforming and realigning,” she sings. “I’ll take you with me.” This time, we’re going willingly. 

The carefree attitude Rae displays, combined with the authenticity of someone following their true passion, is exactly what separates her from the anonymous, directionless pop flops of the past. Where “stars” like Bebe Rexha and Ava Max desperately chase trends, Rae executes her laser-focused creative vision. Where they obscure themselves under basic, boring lyricism and morph into nameless parodies of celebrities, Rae lets her personality shine through. Where Tate McRae and Gracie Abrams dilute the sounds of their influences, Rae serves up something fresh.

So yes, although she doesn’t quite have the reputation or catalog to brand her as a mega-star — yet — Addison Rae’s creative vision and seemingly genuine enthusiasm for her craft are pushing her to the top of the rising-artist circuit. Perhaps ultimately, her story is simply a lesson in persistence, making change, and belief in one’s vision. As she sang to our ridicule almost four years ago: “You’re obsessed with me.” We finally are.