Addison Rae, the dance TikToker I loved at 13 and now the hyperpop princess I love at 19. Addison Rae first blew up at the age of 19, her first year on TikTok (2019) being the setting stone of her career. She quickly gained over a million followers and continued to grow throughout 2020. However, in early 2021 she released her first single “Obsessed” which sustained criticism as people labelled her lyrics, vocals, and visuals as lackluster, framing her as “another TikToker making music.”
Addison Rae’s Hate Train
Following the release of her song “Obsessed” she also dipped into the world of acting, starring in the film “He’s All That,” the remake of the cult classic “She’s All That”. However, people did not appreciate the launch of her acting career, exclaiming that she was “a bad actress, cringy, and trying too hard.”Â
This created a hate train around the character of “Addison Rae” and tainted her name in the public for the rest of the year, not only minimizing milestones like being invited to the Met Gala, but also criticizing simple clothing choices while getting a coffee in LA. However, this would quickly change in the coming year.Â
Addison Disappears from the PUblic view
After the press for “He’s all that” was over, Addison hid from public view, only being viewed through paparazzi pics and the occasional Instagram post. This created a mist of mystery around her. The public went digging, which caused a leak of two singles from a lost E.P. The songs included were “I Got It Bad” and “Nothing On (But the Radio).” This caused a frenzy. She gained traction and became known as the “gay pop princess” as these songs became a staple in the community.Â
This leak, however, did not bring Addison back into the limelight. Instead, it gave her a presence into niche groups on the internet, which gave her the ability to pursue creative endeavors. All without the overwhelming shadow of her previous internet presence.Â
In my opinion, this is the best thing that could have happened. She allowed others to miss her and wonder what she was doing, who her friends were, and what her life was like now. This gave her the opportunity to become more neutral, raw, and less of a character.
By 2023 other songs such as 2 die 4 (feat. Charli XCX) leaked, causing another frenzy, not only with the LGBT community, but now the general public. By mid 2023 many people were hoping Addison would return to music and release these leaked songs, or at least acknowledge this new love for her and her music.Â
Looking back at it, 2023 was Addison’s redemption year for the “flops” that came from 2021. She eventually released the leaked songs on August 18th of 2023. This garnered praise from the general public, which expressed excitement for this new Addison– daring, artsy, and tumblr chic, with just the perfect dash of a hot party girl from the 2000s.Â
Addison Rae is here to stay
Although this journey was incredibly long and I can not imagine it was easy, I believe that the best thing that could have happened in Addison’s career was allowing the public to miss her. Letting people miss her made them want to see her, know what her life is like, and what she was doing. By playing on this mystery Addison was able to come into the public not as a character, but as her authentic self. This is why her personal rebrand was so successful.
She has now released more music and played up the mysterious party girl persona. This has lead not only to a cult following of her and her projects, but allowed her to be a guest at both Arcas and Charli XCX’s performances at Coachella, and announce her self titled debut album “Addison.” Although this is only the beginning, I hope to see her career blossom because there is no doubt she will be one of the main pop girls soon!