OCT 3, 2024 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | By Esa George
Before being taken on as Charli XCX’s most random, refreshing and bewildering pupil in 2021, 23 year old Libra and Louisiana native, Addison Rae was a name of unique fame. TikTokers received mixed reviews during those days, many making the understandable claim that they are talentless and their period of internet glory will be over as we often move quickly away from internet trends and personalities.
I didn’t think, at the time, I would have been able to guess that Rae is someone who would find a way to stay relevant and overcome the — no offense — shame that tarnishes a TikToker’s credibility; at least, outside of the 15-second dance videos that earn them a name. Somehow, I’ve been proven wrong, and I am so glad.
During her TikTok glory days as a resident of the Hype House and daughter to a really really bizarre pair of parents with a large appetite for fame (I will get to that later), she had expressed zero interest in being a singer to a common “scroller” like myself, yet that has not stopped her from making the ingenious decision to rebrand as a popstar of idol status (or should I say, “brat-us”).
Thanks to the internet’s habit of getting rid of everything we don’t want following us around as we mature (just kidding), Rae’s digital footprint has rather somehow been viewed as the nascent stages of an emerging icon. Every moment, every choice, got her to where she is now and somehow pushed her into the world of music, which she has graced us with.
“Diet Pepsi,” her newest single, was released on Aug. 9, of this year: it is an abundance of brilliance. It is an anthem, it is bubbly, it is the song of unusual craving, just as a Diet Pepsi has been, unbeknownst to me, my entire life. Rae has made me challenge my prior indifferent treatment of this soda empire and think to myself, “if Rae has romanticized a life sipping away Diet Pepsi, I should give it a try too.” Which I did, after reaching the top of Pikes Peak. Having a Diet Pepsi for the very first time with intention was an eye opening experience, and something I would credit to Rae’s unique sensibility. She is a heroine, she is pure Heroine, she is the one that got away! (from TikTok.)
She defied odds and gravity. She is the image of TikTok “aging well,” and she most definitely won the break up; The same week her ex-boyfriend of multiple very public break ups and her unfortunate eternal internet “mistake,” Bryce Hall, was brought up to the podium by presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally, she was on stage with Charli XCX and Troye Sivan at the Madison Square Garden “Sweat Tour” show performing “Diet Pepsi” for the first time live. I mean…you tell me what winning looks like.
Upon planning to write this article, I knew I couldn’t gloss over the drama between her and her parents, yet I have not refreshed myself on the subject matter in a while. But I always thought to myself, upon hearing her name again more and more, “good for her” for detaching herself from their immaturity, as they seemed to profit off of her career after her father was revealed via the internet, to be having an affair. Both of her parents used their internet platforms (that exist thanks to her) to totally embarrass her, resulting in a series of unfollowing, then refollowing, then re-unfollowing each other. Not to mention her father’s disturbing shirtless TikTok videos where he was challenging men to a boxing match. WTF?
With all of that being said, she made it out, she rebranded and is in a continuous state of rebranding for the better. Just when we wondered if she could get any better than the iconic ad-libbed scream in Charli xcx’s very first remix of “Von dutch a. g. cook remix featuring addison rae,” she presents “Diet Pepsi” to the world.
At the end of the day, the superstar Charli XCX always leaves us with some essential life lessons. We know it well from “Girl So Confusing,” and the following lyrics which they pronounce together on the second verse of their collaboration:
And then they go online like (Von Dutch, cult classic, but I still pop)
‘Just kidding, I hate you” (Von Dutch, cult classic, but I still pop)’”
Again, this unique sensibility bolsters Rae and XCX as the icons that they are. I’m sure the “girls” they reference who would approach Rae for a picture in the past, just to make fun of her status as nothing more than a TikTok celebrity are looking back now and claiming, “I was always a fan!” It’s because Rae transcends mediums now, but she is still that same girl with quite a history bringing her here.