When former Tiktok Hype House star Addison Rae first announced her new career in music back in 2021, I rolled my eyes and kept scrolling. She seemed to be following the path many influencers were taking: releasing a song that would fail to escape the For-You page. That era of the Hype House, of which Addison Rae, Charli D’Aimelio, and Dixie D’Amelio all reigned over, began falling apart around 2020. Shortly after, Addison Rae made her soft entrance into the music industry.
Like many, I caved and downloaded TikTok during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic out of desperate boredom. Addison Rae’s frequent appearances on my feed and association with the Hype House led me to view her within a restrictive, one-dimensional category. Rae is now the fifth most followed influencer on Tiktok, but like the many other influencers she collaborated with during that period, I didn’t think her career would move beyond the app.
I wasn’t grabbed by her 2021 single “Obsessed.” However, her 2023 EP, AR, caught my attention due to her collaboration with Charli XCX on the song “2 die 4.” The song was her first of two collaborations with Charli XCX, the second being her feature on a remix of Charlie’s hit lead single “Von dutch” that later appeared on her summer-defining album Brat. In just the past few years, Addison Rae has significantly shifted her image and audience, as these collaborations with prominent artists have exposed her to a wider, global audience.
Only recently did I give Addison Rae’s musicianship a chance. Her single “Diet Pepsi” was released this past August, her first track after signing with Columbia Records earlier this year. “Diet Pepsi” became a popular end-of-summer track for many, and even earned its spot at 54 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. This was Rae’s first song on the Billboard chart, which will likely be the first of many. Rae performed the song alongside Charli XCX and Troye Sivan at Madison Square Garden in September, where the two pop superstars performed for a stop on their Sweat Tour. She came out in a fluffy white tutu and matching bra, and performed on a stage most artists struggle their entire careers to get to.
While Tiktok still is a large part of Rae’s history to fame, she’s created an identity outside of the typical influencer image and has successfully entered herself into the pop music scene. Though many don’t take TikTok influencers very seriously, Rae’s transition to music has caught a range of new people’s attention beyond the app’s platform. At just 24 years old with only a few singles and an EP to her name, Rae is now performing and collaborating with some of the currently largest names in pop music.
I’m looking forward to seeing what other pop artists she works alongside next, as these collaborations seem to be helping her boost her legitimacy in the music industry. The release and popularity of her newest single, “Aquamarine,” leads me to believe that a new album might be close to follow.