6 songs that showcase Addison Rae's pop star glow-up

2024 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals - Source: Getty
Addison Rae's 2024 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals (Image via Getty)

Addison Rae Easterling's trajectory from the tranquil suburbs of Lafayette, Louisiana, to worldwide entertainment fame is not only a validation of the power of social media, but it is also an exhibition of how social sites can hasten the jump from regional celebrity to worldwide phenomenon.

Years before her name became associated with TikTok fame, Addison was heavily entrenched in dance life, dancing nationally and honing her craft through a rigorous devotion over many decades. But mid-2019 was the first time anything would ever catch for her. When she joined TikTok in July of that year, her high-energy performances and precious attitude impressed fans big time, driving her follower count into orbit.

3rd Annual Academy Museum Gala - Arrivals (Image via Getty)
3rd Annual Academy Museum Gala - Arrivals (Image via Getty)

Addison Rae's overnight online fame soon overshadowed the conventional route on which she had been placed; within a couple of months, she made the pathbreaking choice of quitting her broadcast journalism class at Louisiana State University to move to Los Angeles. There, she surfed the wave of internet fame, bound for a diversified career in entertainment of music, movies, fashion, and whatnot.

Addison Rae's musical career began with the 2021 release of "Obsessed," a chic, assured debut that introduced her as more than an internet celebrity. While the reactions varied, the song set the stage for what was ultimately, yet intentionally, artistry in the making.

Here are the best 6 Addison Rae songs of all time, a set that reflects the entire range of her evolution as a pop star. From catchy, flirty anthems to more introspective and emotionally intense songs, this set demonstrates her capacity to move between giddy self-assurance and unvarnished vulnerability.

Some songs tip into a dreamy, retro-sounding style that evokes the beginning of the 2000s pop sound, while others push boundaries with contemporary production and subtle melodies.

Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's opinion. The reader's discretion is advised!


Top 6 Addison Rae songs of all time

1) Diet Pepsi

Addison Rae broke into the pop scene with her bold debut single, "Diet Pepsi," released August 9, 2024, on Columbia Records. The lead track of her debut album, Addison, the song unveiled a richer, more artistic side of Addison Rae's developing musical identity. It came with its black-and-white video, directed by indie director Sean Price Williams, which saw the release creating waves on all fronts.

The clip begins with a sneaky plug for Addison Rae's song, "Aquamarine," before melting into a montage of sexy and stylized images: Addison Rae cruising around in a retro 1972 Cadillac Sixty Special in lingerie, flirting with an actor named Drew Van Acker.

2025 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival - Weekend 1 - Day 3 (Image via Getty)
2025 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival - Weekend 1 - Day 3 (Image via Getty)

It's all drawn from the look and feel of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! The video also winks at experimental short Breakaway by Bruce Conner, blending camp and avant-garde to place Addison Rae on equal standing as a pop artist with a film buff's sensibility. Style visionary Mel Ottenberg provided his vision as creative director, imbuing the visual with high-gloss-meets-grime.

Sonically, "Diet Pepsi" was likened to Lana Del Rey's early material, with critics praising Addison Rae's husky modulation and surprisingly powerful vocal control. The single peaked at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted abroad well, going top ten in the UK, Singapore, and Ireland, and top 20 in Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

2025 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival - Weekend 1 - Day 3 (Image via Getty)
2025 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival - Weekend 1 - Day 3 (Image via Getty)

Within a year, "Diet Pepsi" was on nearly every 2024 best-of list, turning Addison Rae into an influencer who became a top pop player.

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2) Obsessed

Addison Rae made her proper foray into the realm of music by releasing "Obsessed" on March 19, 2021, with Sandlot Records. Originally intended as a lead single to then-shelved debut album material, the song found new life as a Spotify-only bonus track on her EP AR, released on August 18, 2023, and consisting of four unreleased tracks. The "Obsessed" video, directed by Diane Martel, blended edgy choreography from Sara Biv and Calvin Hodge with high-fashion elegance.

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Kyle Luu styled Addison Rae for the shoot, which borrowed from retro pop imagery and had her strutting looks paying homage to icons like Britney Spears and the Spice Girls, LaQuan Smith catsuits, to a Dion Lee corset inspired by Spears' "Sometimes." When it was released, the video became an instant hit and took the number six position on YouTube's most viewed list.

Though it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100, the song still hit number ten on the Bubbling Under Hot 100, a big debut for the artist-turned-influencer.

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3) Aquamarine

American artist Addison Rae formally launched her new song, "Aquamarine," on October 25, 2024, as a second single from her upcoming debut album, Addison, with Columbia Records. Abandoning stereotypical pop, the track combines house deep beats with maddening dance-pop and Eurodance to offer a punchy quality.

iHeartRadio 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2024 Presented By Capital One - Press Room (Image via Getty)
iHeartRadio 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2024 Presented By Capital One - Press Room (Image via Getty)

The lyrics of the track explore intricacies of personal discovery and self-betterment, offering listeners substance and inspiration. Recorded with producer Elvira Anderfjärd and producer Luka Kloser, "Aquamarine" achieved critical and fan acclaim, a bright new addition to Addison Rae's musical legacy.

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4) High Fashion

Addison Rae's "High Fashion," dropped February 14, 2025, on Columbia Records, is a confident move into the future as a new pop star, the third teaser from her highly anticipated debut album, Addison. Instead of emphasizing hooks, the song is notable for its sleek, high-fashion production and Rae's developing musical personality; critics praised both elements as demonstrations of expanded artistry.

The Mitch Ryan-directed music video interprets her own biography visually, borrowing imagery of Addison Rae's cultural heritage in Louisiana.

2024 CFDA Awards - Arrivals (Image via Getty)
2024 CFDA Awards - Arrivals (Image via Getty)

Towering over them are the ruins of a burned-out sugarcane field and the excesses of the sugar-coated beignets. The film cuts back and forth between the otherworldly tale of Southern desire and longing-state aspiration, visually drawing upon images of pop culture icons ranging from Dorothy's ruby red slippers to Britney Spears and then superimposing them upon symbols of classic Americana and Tumblr-era sensibility.

Dara Allen-styled Addison Rae's appearance has been lauded for its effectively spare beauty, evoking the dancer's posture and the actress's imperative to change. Rae herself refers to the video as a reflection of her own path, small-town girl becoming pop hopeful, placing "High Fashion" in a bittersweet conversation of ambition and self, glamour and the specters of home.

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5) Headphones On

Addison Rae dropped "Headphones On" on April 18, 2025, through Columbia Records as the fourth single out before her much-awaited debut album, Addison. The song contrastingly fuses R&B grooves, new jack swing feels, and trip-hop textures to provide a sonic geography in line with the song's overall message, music as a shelter for the chaos of personal issues.

2024 MTV Video Music Awards - Backstage (Image via Getty)
2024 MTV Video Music Awards - Backstage (Image via Getty)

Unlike most pop anthems, "Headphones On" takes Addison Rae deeper into her emotional ground, where she expresses her matured artistry and vulnerability to venture into introspective lyrics. The critics welcomed the song with open arms, praising the production of the song and Rae's vocals, further cementing her validity as an artist aside from the success she accumulated on social media.

2024 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals (Image via Getty)
2024 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals (Image via Getty)

Commercially, the one kept trending upward to Addison Rae's second top forty chart appearances in Ireland and the UK, and to her second Hot 100 appearance, following her success with her 2024 single Diet Pepsi. The sustained momentum reinforces Rae's evolution from internet celebrity to emerging talent on the modern music scene.

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6) I Got It Bad

Addison Rae's "I Got It Bad" is the lead single from her debut EP, AR (2023). Written by Addison Rae, Madison Love, Leland, and Oscar Görres, and produced by Oscar Görres and Rami Yacoub, the song was published on August 18, 2023, on Sandlot Records. Tantalizingly enough, Rae initially hinted at this song way back in 2021 on social media clips, and early demo versions were leaked online, making their viral rounds a while before the tidied-up full version.

2024 MTV Video Music Awards - Backstage (Image via Getty)
2024 MTV Video Music Awards - Backstage (Image via Getty)

Critics embraced it with open arms, and Pitchfork listed it as one of the EP's standout points, praising its retro early 2000s pop feel in the mode of Britney Spears. Rae's singing performance best describes the over-the-top, on-the-verge-of-being-obsessive, love for a "bad boy" type. The song reached number 31 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart, a rare achievement for Rae's music debut.

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Addison Rae's music catalog, though not old, clearly shows a preference for placing herself as a sound artist in the pop music genre. From internet fame, Rae easily got into music with the release of her 2023 debut EP AR. The record, built on songs such as "I Got It Bad," is proof of the capacity to couple hooky choruses and emotional openness, grounded in early-2000s pop sounds which appeal to a broad audience.

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Edited by Anshika Jain