Addison Rae's journey from TikTok darling to a pop culture phenomenon has unfolded with time, transforming the HypeHouse dancer into the child of Britney Spears and Lana Del Rey. 

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Throughout 2019, Addison rose to fame through TikTok, where people branded her as a country southern belle, posting videos of trendy dances to songs like Aaryan Shah’s “Renegade” or Doja Cat’s “Say So”. Around this time, she joined Hype House, a now-dissolved collective of TikTok influencers, including other popular creators like Charli D’Amelio, Avani, and Chase Hudson. 

In 2021, Addison released her first song “Obsessed”, a shallow, generic pop-song, clearly intended as a profitable cash grab aimed at her loyal teenage fanbase. On Album of the Year, the song scored a predictable 30% user rating, with only 11% of people liking it. After this release’s poor reception, Addison stayed under the radar for a while, letting the criticism fade. The media surrounding Addison shifted focus when her parents’ public divorce drama unfolded. Her mom, Sheri, started going viral for her flirtatious interactions with meme-rapper Yung Gravy, and her dad, Monty, for dating women of Addison's age which he’d show off all over TikTok. The narrative around her shifted from hate to pity—a girl caught in the middle of her parents’ outbursts.

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This new narrative allowed space for Addison to reinvent herself. This process began at the 2021 MTV Awards, where she appeared in a Christopher Esber look, with her low-waisted maxi skirt, and a bra-top, and continued at the LACMA 2022 Film Gala where she donned vintage Jean Louis de Scherrer. It was a stark difference to her 2019 Streamy Awards look, where she wore a white mini dress. It was out of the box and bold, growing out of her TikTok teen persona to future popstar. Outside of these red carpet moments, her everyday looks embodied an early 2000s Britney Spears pop-diva vibe. Stylist or not, it looked effortless. 

In addition to this, fans found Addison’s Spotify, where they found her listening to artists such as SOPHIE and Death Grips. In an interview, she also mentioned listening to Arca and Unknown Mortal Orchestra–artists that were very out of place for Addison. Just like that, the gays and the girlie pops fed her like a mother bird to a baby, nursing her to life.

Though, it wasn’t until 2023 when Addison released her first EP, AR. Within this album featured a more cohesive set of songs, decent production, and polished vocals. “2 die 4” features Charli xcx, in a solid collaboration and a well-rounded pop song. In return for Charli’s endorsement, Rae was featured on the remix of “Von dutch”, including her iconic scream in the bridge. Though, what really solidified her music career in the pop revival era was “Diet Pepsi”, a single which signalled a shift toward a more mature, well-defined sound compared to “Obsessed”. The music video was also a dramatic shift, an intimate black and white cinematic, compared to the very bland latter’s music video. It marked a clear vision of the artist Addison wanted to become, garnering an 80% user rating on Album of the Year and reaching 154 million streams on Spotify. The song felt like an ode to Lana Del Rey’s influence on pop music, exploring themes of sexual naivety, lost innocence, and experimental sounds. Most recently, she released “Aquamarine” in October 2024, echoing Britney Spears’ “Breathe On Me” with its minimalist electronic instrumentation and sensual lyrics. While still new in the pop scene, Addison’s development is worth noting; as she says, “the world is my oyster, and I am the only girl.”

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