Love Her Or Hate Her… Addison Rae Has Grabbed Our Attention

Somewhere between the viral lip-sync videos that first made her a popular name and the glittering stages she now owns, Addison has quietly levelled up. You might have found her TikTok a cringe, but Diet Pepsi? Slapped. Love her or hate her, she has grabbed eyes, picked up a mic, taken on a monster (literally), and made reinvention look effortless. The internet’s former TikTok girl isn’t trying to prove she belongs anymore, she’s already doing it on the charts.

Her debut studio album, Addison, released on June 6, 2025, marks the official start of this new chapter.

Addison, The Album That Shouldn’t Work (But Absolutely Does)

Let’s be honest — when Rae announced her debut album Addison earlier this year, there were plenty of raised eyebrows. Another influencer going pop? Heard it before and stop it. But then Diet Pepsi dropped, and the internet collectively did a double take. It was fizzy, flirty, and somehow nostalgic, the kind of song that makes you want to text your situationship and then immediately block them.

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The full album is a perfect capsule of the new Addison: confident, sexy, and pop! It’s not trying to be deep, or be like there’s heart tucked between the beats. Headphones On, one of the standouts, feels like late-night introspection in glitter, a love letter to escapism that hits way too close to an Euphoria themed party. Critics have been surprisingly kind, calling it “pop’s most refreshing debut of the year.” And that’s because it doesn’t pretend to be more than it is — it’s shiny, it’s smart, it’s self-aware. Addison is having fun, but she’s also doing the work. And it's just simple.

From TikTok to True Crime: Addison Takes On Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Then came the curveball no one saw coming, Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story. If her album was sugar, this is spice and shadow. Addison stars as Evelyn Hartley, a 1950s babysitter whose disappearance sets off one of the most chilling true crime tales in American history.

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It’s not a huge role, but it’s an important one, and she nails it. There’s something magnetic about seeing her, this person we’ve mostly associated with high-gloss filters and dance challenges, suddenly existing in the eerie, sepia-toned world of serial killers. She’s haunting but human, fragile but not helpless.

And when she said in her Netflix interview that her first day on set involved roller-skating (because, of course, it did), it just reinforced the sense that she’s having fun again — even while playing in dark, dangerous spaces. It’s the kind of unexpected casting that makes people pay attention.

The Glow-Up We Didn’t See Coming

The best part of Rae's reinvention is that it doesn’t feel smashed on our face. There’s was a desperate rebrand, heavy-handed PR spin, but now it's just quiet evolution. She’s not everywhere anymore, and that’s part of her allure. When she shows up now, whether it’s front row in some impossibly chic dress or performing live with that shiny new confidence, it feels earned.

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Her aesthetic has matured too. Think less “Euphoria-core” and more “Old Hollywood with a Tumblr soul.” She’s found that sweet spot between glamour and irony, which, let’s face it, is pop’s most elite balancing act.

Fashion Girl

Her fashion evolution deserves its own spotlight, because honestly, it’s giving main pop girl energy. Her style right now feels like a love letter to peak Y2K, the kind of early-2000s glamour that would make Britney proud. Think low-rise everything, slinky metallics, rhinestone-dusted corsets, and tiny tees that say things like Angel Energy (ironically, of course).

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But there’s a wink to it — Rae isn’t just cosplaying the past, she’s remixing it. She’ll pair a micro-mini with platform UGGs one day and a couture corset dress the next, balancing camp with cool in a way that feels intentional, not nostalgic. Her current aesthetic sits somewhere between a 2003 TRL taping and a 2025 TikTok fashion week — sparkly, self-aware, and just the right amount of unserious.

She’s Doing It. For Real.

This is what growth looks like in real time, messy, brave, thrilling. Rae has spent years being underestimated, and maybe that’s her superpower.

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She knows how to turn the noise into rhythm. The influencer girl who once went viral for a 15-second dance has now dropped one of the year’s best pop albums, starred in a prestige Netflix series, and emerged as a fully-fledged creative force.

So yes, Addison’s reinvention era is here — and honestly? We’re living for it.