“Diet Pepsi” and Addison Rae’s Re-Brand

It finally feels like Addison Rae’s official launch into the pop-girl-sphere. 3 years after the release of her debut single, “Obsessed,” (which almost led to the retiring of her music career) comes Addison’s first fully realized single, “Diet Pepsi.” She’s no longer the high-key, eccentric influencer we once knew her to be, instead, she’s an effortlessly cool 23-year-old with a disorderly-yet-enviable social media presence. The accompanying visual to “Diet Pepsi” sees Addison exercising a Madonna level of campiness. Grainy black and white shots of her crawling into the backseat of a car, showing off her acrobatic skills, and wrapped up in an American flag compliment the mid-tempo track, which draws influence from FKA Twigs (the delivery), Lana Del Rey (the breathiness), and Imogen Heap (the layering). If one thing is discernibly clear, it’s that Addison Rae has done her research.

2023’s “AR,” a collection of 5 previously scrapped tracks that made the rounds on TikTok, was more of a gift to her fans than a creative endeavor. Nonetheless, the world’s first introduction to “Addison Rae the musician” featured a Charli XCX collaboration and a scrapped Lady Gaga fan favorite. “2 die 4,” the track with Charli, came as no surprise to the internet, as she had publicly endorsed Addison on multiple occasions prior, referring to her as “like no one she’d ever met really,” and revealing that she wanted Addison to DJ her wedding. Then came the remix to Charli’s “Von dutch,” which felt like the most definitive clue as to the direction Addison was heading with her upcoming solo music. The remix acts as a transition from the bubble-gum fantasy of “AR” to the anomalous, free-spirited energy of “Diet Pepsi,” allowing fans of Addison’s to get behind her new sound with minimal whiplash.

Despite her new single not being the eagerly anticipated Grimes-echoing snippet that she teased in June, “Diet Pepsi” is the perfect execution of an undoubtedly genuine re-brand. It appears that Addison Rae has made no effort in “re-branding,” and that she has simply grown up, adopting an image and aesthetic that is unique to her, and intriguing to the internet. It’s a quiet shift, one that’s almost imperceptible, like a sudden change in the wind. "Diet Pepsi" isn’t a forced departure but a natural progression, a reflection of her evolving identity—subtle, yet unmistakably her own.