Former TikTok darling Addison Rae recently released her latest single “Headphones On,” an ethereal, wispy-feeling tune that, paired with the album art for her upcoming body of work, is an overt tribute to 2000s and 2010s icons including the likes of Britney Spears and Lana Del Rey. The lyrics tell a story about escapism through music, putting our headphones on to block out the struggles of the real world: “Guess I gotta accept the pain / Need a cigarette to make me feel better / Every good thing comes my way / So I / So I put my headphones on (I put my headphones on) / Listen to my favorite song (Listen to my favorite song).”
This release comes after a string of singles in anticipation of her upcoming self-titled album “Addison,” which is scheduled to be released June 6 through Columbia Records. The preceding songs — “Diet Pepsi,” “Aquamarine” and “High Fashion” — have been critically favored and well received by fans, and so have the music videos that accompanied them.
This, however, is not Rae’s first taste of the music industry. In 2021, she put out the pop song “Obsessed,” which was largely met with public distaste. After taking a break from releasing music and sparking buzz around her name through leaks and demos, she came out with an EP called “AR” featuring bubblegum pop tracks such as “I got it bad” and “2 Die 4.” The latter features Charli xcx, the British electro-pop musician and frequent collaborator of Rae’s, who saw her own rise to the mainstream and critical acclaim with her latest album “BRAT.”
As Addison Rae creates her dreamy it-girl aesthetic, which takes major inspiration from her best friend and creative consultant Lexee Smith, and develops her musical craft, the rebrand calls into question if she can successfully shed the TikToker image that impacted her first attempt at making music so negatively. It seems the generally hateful perspective has changed. All four of her most recent songs have tapped into the culture and been a hit in my books. She has been intentional with every single detail of her projects — be it fashion, aesthetics, lyricism, visuals, artwork, genre or social media output. While I am not totally sure if there will be a time when her TikTok roots will be forgotten, I can confidently say I am excited to watch her grow as a musical artist and to see where this journey will take her.
