In our digital world dominated by TikTok trending audios, we are constantly exposed to these songs as background music. Often sped up to twice the song’s usual bpm to fit into a shorter video (crazy, I know), it is hard not to get addicted to these catchy snippets. For example, Charli XCX’s song ‘Apple’ from her career defining 2024 album Brat sky rocketed into virality with the simple TikTok dance that was done to it.
Building an interactive culture around the song and stapled XCX’s album into pop culture, with tracks still going viral a year later like ‘Party 4 U.’ TikTok’s power is undeniable in modern pop culture – it’s where 24-year-old Addison Rae found her fame. Around the time of Covid-19 she gained a mass following on the app alongside creators like Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, with the latter also attempting to step into the music industry. However, the success of Addison Rae’s current singles is incomparable to any other TikTok star of the group.
Diet Pepsi, released in August 2024, has amassed over 300 million streams on Spotify alone. Its title evokes the Lana Del Rey-esque sense of Americana and femininity which is immediately intriguing, with her voice mixed so ethereally alongside a summery beat creating an addictive atmosphere. Her second single Aquamarine portrays more of a party vibe, which fits well with Brat and the resurgence of uptempo pop music in 2024, opposed Boygenius’ self-titled LP defining the previous summer’s sound with its ‘sad girl’ acoustic vibe.
The single that really defines Addison Rae’s diversity is her most recent release ‘Headphones On.’ Rae enters more of an authentic and gritty setting, singing about the escapism of music and how this helps her forget her issues. The visuals that accompany this single also stand out, with her bright pink hair contrasting her bare face and more natural background of the music video, portraying as still one of today’s pop princesses, but also just a normal girl in her twenties. The success of both the high-quality production of her music, its virality on TikTok, and the excellent marketing that went into building her new persona has made the announcement of Addison’s self-titled debut album one that fans are highly anticipating.
If her first LP reflects the same pop perfection as her singles, it could definitely reach the iconic status that Brat has accumulated over the past year, and we might be witness to the rise of a generation-defining pop star.