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The business of being Addison Rae was booming.

It was March 2021, and the then-20-year-old had recently become the world’s top-earning TikTok star, dancing and lip-syncing her way to nearly 80 million followers and a vast portfolio of brand deals. She’d dropped out of school at Louisiana State University to sign with an agent and move to LA, was preparing to launch her own cosmetics line, and had already secured a second season of her Spotify-exclusive podcast. That summer, she’d make her film debut in Netflix’s “He’s All That,” a role that would lead to a multimillion-dollar deal with the streamer.

There was only one thing left to do: Become a pop star.

But when the single and music video for Rae’s debut single “Obsessed” dropped that month, listeners were anything but. The song was panned as phoned-in influencer slop. “This is proof that nowadays it’s so easy to get into the music industry by using the clout you have,” one YouTube commenter wrote. Critics weren’t much kinder. “‘Obsessed’ proves she should stick to lip syncing,” Langa Chinyoka wrote for entertainment blog Popdust.

While the song’s reception was almost unanimously negative, the real inciting factor was Rae’s audacity to release original music at all: How dare an influencer best known as a purveyor of corny TikTok dance trends envision herself as an actual artist worthy of any stage bigger than an iPhone?

Back then, no one could have predicted Rae’s debut album, “Addison,” would arrive Friday amid a flurry of praise from pop heads and critics alike. Four years after “Obsessed” became a spectacular flop, Rae has masterfully rebranded as the music industry’s newest “It” Girl. This time, her strategy is working: her face is back on major magazine covers, she’s collaborating and associating with pioneering pop stars like Charli XCX and Rosalía, and is being anointed “the new pop princess” by fans on social media.

Against all odds, Rae has pulled off a rare pivot, trading a massive but unenthusiastic audience of passive social media scrollers for critical acclaim and a passionate niche of die-hard fans. As Walden Green wrote for Pitchfork, “Addison Rae has achieved something arguably more impressive than success: coolness.”

How did she do it?

Act I: Flipping the script

Rae is hardly the first celebrity to switch lanes, but the transition from TikToker to bona fide celebrity is particularly difficult — just ask Charli D’Amelio or Bella Poarch, both of whom boasted more followers than Rae in 2020, but have so far failed to parlay social-media fame into traditional Hollywood prestige.

Lili Colwell, the vice president of digital at Night, a talent representation platform for online creators, said her clients face greater stigma when transitioning into a new discipline, as skeptics often assume that influencers are lazy trend hoppers, not creative forces in their own right.

“They don’t give these people enough credit,” Colwell said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, they have no talent.’”

Growing an audience on TikTok demands a constant churn of content. Rae recently told The New York Times’ Popcast she was posting “ridiculous amounts of videos” at her peak popularity, sometimes up to 12 videos per day.

Meanwhile, carving a fruitful path in the music industry demands discernment and a distinct point of view. The biggest stars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé deploy tightly controlled communications strategies to keep their brand identities compelling and consistent.

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Tara Goodwin, a PR expert and founder of Goodwin Consulting, said for Rae to be taken seriously beyond social media, it was essential that she rejected TikTok’s ethos of oversaturation and began sharing with more intention.

“On TikTok, she had random posts all the time, never any rhyme or reason,” Goodwin said. “Now, it’s very curated, it’s very strategic.”

In May 2025, Rae only shared 12 videos on TikTok for the entire month, mostly to promote music videos that were painstakingly styled, shot, and edited — a far cry from the off-the-cuff, low-effort clips that defined her early days on the app. Now, if she’s going to lip sync or dance, it’s to her own songs.

Taking a step back from algorithmic ubiquity not only gave Rae more control over her narrative but also added a crucial layer of mystique to her persona — a key element in transforming her reputation from regular Louisiana girl with a knack for nailing TikTok dances to an aspirational, slightly unknowable celebrity and artist.

“She’s releasing bits and pieces to intrigue the audience and make them want more,” Goodwin said of Rae’s current social media strategy. “She’s actually now creating a story.”

Online and in interviews, Rae has managed to sell her rebrand as an earnest progression in her creative coming-of-age. She told The New York Times that, after her TikToker days of hustling for mass appeal and millions of followers, she can finally afford to take risks. “I have this luxury now to be able to play and explore,” she said.

The fact that it’s taken four years for Rae to re-emerge with a different, more adventurous musical persona only makes this arc more convincing. Her evolution didn’t happen overnight; instead, Rae’s dogged commitment to her new vision is a selling point.

“She’s no longer just an influencer making music — she’s a pop artist who happens to come from an influencer background.”Sara Andréasson, PR expert

Rae has proudly told news outlets about how she convinced Columbia Records to give her another chance after the failure of “Obsessed” by presenting an elaborate mood board that laid out her new sound and aesthetic in buzzwords (“intense,” “glitter”), colors (aquamarine, hot pink), and iconic pop performances. She has been working to personify that character ever since, with every carefully selected public appearance, red carpet look, and new song revealing another layer of her new self-mythology.

Sara Andréasson, cofounder of Michele Marie PR, told Business Insider that this strategy has created demand and curiosity.

“She’s no longer just an influencer making music — she’s a pop artist who happens to come from an influencer background.”

Act II: Finding a backer

During her TikTok reign, Rae told BI, “You are who you hang out with.” Though she was speaking at the time about how close she was with her family, the statement has become a key tenet of the Rae Rebrand.

Rae’s music earned its first major stamp of approval from the alt-pop star Charli XCX, who, after hitting it off with Rae in a studio session, asked to contribute a verse to “2 Die 4,” a ringtone-era throwback track that was included on Rae’s 2023 EP “AR.”

Before Charli XCX had her major crossover moment in the summer of last year with the ubiquitous acid-green rollout of her album “Brat,” the British singer was known as a platinum-selling songwriter for other artists and an ahead-of-the-curve pop prophet in her own right. Her interest in supporting and collaborating with Rae, whom she’d also recruit for the remix of her “Brat” single, “Von Dutch,” around the same time, legitimized Rae’s artistic pursuits.

DJ Louie XIV, a music critic and host of the Pop Pantheon podcast, said he’s “keen to ascribe agency” to Rae, even if it could seem like her fame has been propelled by her shrewd choice of collaborators. It’s not that he believes Charli is pulling the strings — it’s that he trusts her eye for talent. “Maybe I’m buying the hype,” he told BI, “but I think if Charli sees something in her, that means something to me.”

Rae’s connection to Charli introduced her to a wider audience, made her more chic by association, and staved off doubts about her staying power. As Brat Summer raged on, Rae took a page out of Charli’s cool-girl playbook, crashing parties and smoking cigarettes with club kids, and winning respect from celebrated songwriters like Lorde and Lana Del Rey.

To top it off, she generated buzz when she joined Charli onstage for surprise performances during the singer’s tour stops at Madison Square Garden and Coachella, and cheekily announced her album release date via a pair of pink underwear while performing the “Aquamarine” remix with Arca at the festival.

Act III: Dressing the part

Having good style is relatively easy; making your fashion serve a narrative purpose is harder. Rae is largely focused on the latter, using her outfits to signal her new priorities. Gone are the Brandy Melville sweatpants and backward baseball caps that made her look laid-back and accessible, like the average girl at Erewhon. Instead, she’s worked closely with Interview magazine fashion director Dara Allen to execute a series of looks that aren’t simply pretty or well-fitted, but edgy, flamboyant, and evocative.

Rae savvily uses her clothing to evoke movie stars and pop icons and project herself into that lineage, landing a series of indelible fashion moments, from her pap walk in a baby tee accessorized with Britney Spears’ memoir to the white satin lingerie set she wore for her VMAs red carpet debut, which Vogue described as “‘Swan Lake’ meets Las Vegas showgirl.”

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Andréasson, who has experience dressing A-list celebrities for events, said Rae’s style evolution stands out for its use of surrealism and storytelling.

“She does a great job avoiding the costumey elements of nostalgia and instead reinterprets it with modern tailoring and fresh beauty choices,” Andréasson said. “Nostalgia only works when it’s recontextualized, and Addison seems to understand that.”

In a media landscape where rewearing a historic Marilyn Monroe gown or recreating a memorable look from a ’90s sitcom are easy ways to score headlines, Rae has avoided the plug-and-play approach. Her style may be full of references, but crucially, she doesn’t mimic other celebrities or copy exact outfits. Instead, she prefers to arouse a broader feeling of familiarity.

For example, Rae cited the 2006 friendship comedy “Aquamarine” as an inspiration for her song of the same name and her mermaid-inspired look for the 2024 CFDA Awards — not in terms of the movie’s content or plot, but in how watching it made her feel. “I wanted to find what aquamarine meant to me,” she said.

Act IV: Living up to the hype

Rae’s flair for refracting nostalgia through her own original lens is evident in her new music as much as in her aesthetic. Her debut album “Addison” is full of dreamy, mid-tempo pop that flirts with its influences, from Madonna’s “Ray of Light” and Björk’s “Post” to Spears’ “Blackout” and Del Rey’s “Born to Die.” As the tracklist dances between decades, genres, and moods, Rae’s personal touch fills the gaps.

This kaleidescopic technique isn’t always radio-friendly, but Rae no longer seems to be aiming for immediate chart success (none of the album’s five singles have yet cracked the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40, with “Diet Pepsi” peaking the highest at No. 54). And why should she? If there’s anyone who knows the drawbacks of an abrupt rise to fame without a sensible plan to sustain it, it’s Rae.

Instead, she and her team are executing a strategy that prioritizes artistic legitimacy and real staying power, something Rae hinted at in a recent interview with Elle. “I feel like I’ve surpassed Addison Rae,” she said. “It’s just Addison now.”

Going mononymous is a shorthand for prestige: think Madonna, Cher, Beyoncé. Rae hasn’t earned that level of name recognition yet, but if her journey thus far is any indication, her ambition, marketing savvy, and willingness to play the long game are not to be underestimated — at least, not anymore.

“Back in the ’50s, people were discovered in Hollywood by sitting at a lunch counter on a stool. TikTok was her stool,” Andréasson said. “It’s going to fade away, and all of the new things that she’s doing are what she’s going to be known for. That’s just going to be a postscript in the Addison story.”