Propaganda I’m falling for: Addison Rae’s pop career.
Addison Rae- you either heard me say “TikTok girl” or “it pop girl” depending what side of the internet you’re on. You’ve seen her do the renegade on your phone and on the NBC channel. You’ve seen her cheesy acting on Netflix. You’ve seen her on Coachella stages with Arca and Charlie XCX. You’ve seen her creative visually stunning music videos. You’ve seen her products on the shelf in Sephora stores nationwide. You’ve seen her show off her skills as a competitive dancer. There are multitudes to the person Addison is. For some reason, her new persona is not landing for a lot of people despite the public knowing how varied she is in her interests, influences, and aspirations.
Louisiana born Addison Rae was your typical all-American girl next door. She was in the cheer squad, made TikTok dance videos with her friends, and had the core group of friends wallflowers can only dream of. In mid 2019, her dance videos started gaining traction and I won’t lie, I didn’t get them. These people weren’t really dancing, they were moving their hands to the beat and it was super popular. Her moment really came when she did the “renegade” dance. While not her original dance, she popularized it on the platform and even performed it on late night television. It was always confusing to me why these popular kids were cool for dancing on a platform that was viewed as embarrassing to have at the time. If you had TikTok in pre-covid, you were the weird one. Now, it’s the exact opposite- you need TikTok to keep up with the news, pop culture and advertise yourself as an artist if that applies.
Moving forward, she joined the Hype House- a house in Los Angeles where different creators would team up and mass create content. Addison claims she was posting between seven to twelve TikTok videos a day. She said in a recent interview with The New York Times that she was focused on building a community before starting any other creative projects. She launched her beauty brand, Item Beauty (which sold the best lipgloss ever), at brick and mortar Sephora stores nationwide in the August of 2020. At this time, she had 53 million followers. She was also the recent face of American Eagle and then acted in the “She’s All That” rom-com sequel, “He’s All That” - so original. This movie was not received well and Addison wasn’t the best actress to say the least and . However, she quickly bounced back with a perfume line, Addison Rae fragrance and began her singing career in 2021 with her single “Obsessed”. She performed this single on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote it and show off her dances.
Before I continue, I want to clarify that Addison was a cheerleader and competitive dancer growing up. She did have actual dancing abilities- it’s just not what she posted online. She featured more of these skills in the “Obsessed” music video. In an interview, she mentioned that while others might not think it based on her image and single she had recently put out, she was actually a huge fan of queer EDM artists Arca and SOPHIE. Needless to say, this was a huge surprise and people couldn’t even imagine her playlists including KICK ii or “Ponyboy”. She gained traction from a more open, niche community and people online were raving over how cool it was too see someone with such duality. So how did she make the lazy track she put out a year before?
Many influencers shift into music when they don’t know where to grow next: KSI, Logan Paul, Brittany Broski, Loren Gray, list goes on. These people have usually already had the brand deals and the tv show cameos before they launch their first single; it can feel like another thing on the checklist of “making it big”. When you have the money and connections these people have and you make “Obsessed”, the frustration is incredibly valid. Troye Sivan and Conan Gray are two influencers who transitioned into music and are now well respected with major record deals and are headlining festivals globally. Addison took the criticism seriously and made some changes before moving forward with her EP AR in 2023.
Addison Rae’s shift began somewhere between 2022 and the release of her first EP the next year. Her paparazzi pictures are the first thing to become viral with people outside of “straight TikTok”, the side of TikTok Addison became a household name in. Rae has always taken inspiration from early 2000’s icons like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, her most common comparison. Paris was known for her silly t-shirts with random sayings and Rae is trying to emulate that in these pictures. Addison’s most famous photo is the one of her walking around LA with her wired headphones on and reading Spears’s just released memoir “The Woman in Me”. Here is a compilation of paparazzi pics of Addison during that time:
Partying with Troye Sivan and Charli XCX; have we ever known Addison? People clocked right away that this attempt at a rebrand felt disingenuous. Her record label, Columbia Records, had a similar feeling. Business Insider shared that Addison Rae convinced the label to give her a second chance after creating a moodboard with her inspirations, new color palettes, and buzzwords for new singles. She showcased her dedication and thought process behind her new persona, Addison with the Rae dropped. Just Addison.
Her EP AR was made up of five tracks. One of the tracks was a collaboration with Charli XCX and another was a song originally written for a recorded by Lady Gaga. While Gaga’s version of the song was never released, Gaga’s little monsters often coined it one of her favorite unreleased tracks. When Addison dropped her version of “Nothing On Like The Radio”, people immediately knew what it was. In 2023, AR was the record of my summer along with the Barbie movie soundtrack. Going back to Charli, Addison was featured on a remix for the brat album’s first single, “Von Dutch”. I believe Addison’s friendship with Charli XCX marked a new era. Charli could see her potential and definitely gave her notes, but most of all, they were just two girls who loved making music and got along really well. AR currently sits at 110,919,343 streams as of me writing this.
Before the release of her latest album, Addison, or even her EP, she’s not a stranger to controversy. People love a controversial pop diva until a girl acts like one and is reprimanded for her entitlement. This is a tale as old as time though; we’re currently seeing this play out with Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter. Music is political and you have an audience of millions does come with an expectation. When these stars do something out of touch or stay quiet on certain issues, they will ultimately receive backlash. What gets me is that this is kind of a rite of passage at this point. Gaga wearing the meat dress was iconic to some and disgusting to others, but she gained more public interest than ever before. When opinions on you are split, you’ll likely see more money than ever before in your career thus far.
In changing her image, many things from her past have come to the light. Addison’s dance fame was thanks to the black dance choreographers who made the dances in the first places. She never credited them. She introduced herself to President Trump at a UFC match. She released a collaboration with Adidas wearing a bikini that said “Father. Son. Holy Spirit.” Being from Louisiana and coming from a religious and conservative background, this did not sit well with her community and many online. Not her fault, but her father cheated on her mom with a girl just as young as Addison and this is a theme explored in her album.
Her debut album released last Friday and has already cemented it’s space as one of the best albums of the year with Pitchfork rating it an 8.0. The album pays homage to late 90’s Madonna, y2k Britney, and Lana del Rey’s Lizzy Grant era, just to name a few. It explores themes including her parents’ divorce, the good and bad aspects of fame, a new era of New York City living, and the beauty of transformation and young love. As someone in a similar age group as Addison, living in the same city with a similar dream, I related to so much of this project. It was produced by Luka Kloser, a producer from Austria who has worked with other pop girls like Ariana Grande, Tate McRae, BENEE, and Gwen Stefani. Addison says this project took her twenty four years to make as it feels like a lifetime creation and passion project. Addison’s work ethic, dedication, and vision inspires me in my own work, regardless of whether the physical aspects of her self as genuine. She can wear different clothes, hang out with different people, but it’s just another facet of who she was before. In her track “Money Is Everything”, she says that the girl she used to be is still the girl inside of her.
I understand that going from Trump- self introducing to thanking the queer community on a London-based radio show seems like a stark change- because it is. In 2021, she mentioned she was not a Trump supporter but she respected people with opinions differing to her. While this was a move towards the right direction, she’s said silent about the genocide in Palestine, ICE raids in the United States, and Trump’s presidency overall. So which one is it? Rae told Business Insider that “you are who you spend time with”. Back in the Hype House days, she was spending time with a lot of closed off, straight, white men and girls working to attract the male gaze. Now we see her spending time with ROSALÍA, internet ‘it’ girl Lexie Smith, and is training with world famous vocal coach Eric Vetro.
Her album release party featured a jazz version of “High Fashion” in a 1940’s lounge style. She’s giving theatrics and artistry she would’ve never given if she didn’t evolve from the Hype House. People called this performance camp and that she was a genius. Others said she better turn the song off and that is was a tough watch. One user saying they love it and hate it at the same time. People wanted her to evolve from bad acting and soulless music, but once she did, people said it was all calculated and wasn’t truly her. I think people always want something to criticize so just be yourself. If this is who Addison is in this moment, this is her. She’s still dancing and starring in movies like Thanksgiving and the 2026 movie Animal Friends alongside Audrey Plaza and Jason Momoa. Like her or not, she’s always had starlike charm. She has a radiant smile, can move her body with ease and flow, and is a sweet and positive girl. If her audience and content changes, that’s one thing. But growing and changing your opinion should be encouraged and that’s another thing.
So am I falling for the propaganda? I suppose so. Anyone aspiring to change the stratosphere of pop music in the mid 2020’s will have my respect, despite if I like the project or not. Lucky for me, Her music sounds like an iPod commercial from 2008 and it will be the soundtrack of my summer.
I love her progression as an artist and overall person and I’m grateful she met Charli when she did lol. What are your thoughts? Follow Dani Is Dizzy for all things pop culture, Latine entertainment, and Nueva York living. As always, my socials are down below:
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-Daniela Torres