From Hype House to headliner: How Addison Rae pulled off the pop career nobody expected

Addison Rae wasn’t meant to have a successful pop career. A few years ago, she was the face of TikTok’s chaotic Hype House era – the peak of ring-light lip syncs, fake friendships and influencer collabs. Back then, the idea of her selling out stadiums would’ve been laughable.

Fast forward to 2025, and somehow, she’s a certified pop star with a number one album and a headline tour that’s actually… good?

So how did she pull it off?

Credit: Instagram/@addisonraee

It’s the difference between Addison and the dozens of influencers before her who tried and failed to go pop. She didn’t just release a song and hope it stuck. She rebuilt herself, with the help of singing teacher Eric Vetro, a well-known vocal coach who has worked with numerous prominent artists, including Ariana Grande herself. 

She paired that behind-the-scenes work with strategy: every post, collab, and cameo was a move towards credibility. She leaned on TikTok early, using dance hooks, viral-ready choruses, and exaggerated visuals.

Her debut single Diet Pepsi proved she wasn’t just recycling the TikTok sound, and her album Addison landed her festival slots and, somehow, a Wembley show supporting Lana Del Rey.

Where other influencers crash out, Addison kept momentum. A Charli XCX feature gave her credibility with the internet-pop crowd. An Arca remix flipped her into experimental territory. The slick team around her amplified the content machine, but the difference is Addison herself started to feel believable.

Credit: Instagram/@addisonraee

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The transformation is also distinctly 2020s-coded. Like Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Charli XCX, she’s mastered her image. But unlike them, she skipped the decade of grinding: she leapfrogged straight to the top because she understood how to turn “cringe” into camp, how to sell a brand, and how to back it up with training.

Her guest lyrics acknowledge her up-and-coming status and are directed towards jealous listeners, featuring phrases such as: “While you’re sittin’ in your dad’s basement / Bet you’re disappointed that I’m shinin’ / I’m just living that life.”

From there, she kept the momentum going, dropping singles every couple of months and even teaming up with Arca, who turned one of her songs into Arcamarine. It’s all been designed to make her feel less like a safe, packaged pop girl and more like someone genuinely tapped into the weird, online, post-ironic culture of 2025.

Credit: Instagram/@addisonraee

What’s shocking is not just that Addison Rae is pulling this off – but that she’s pulling it off convincingly. She’s leaning into the LA pop princess act so hard it’s become camp, and people are eating it up.

Some fans are loving it: “She’s the next Britney fr. I think she’s done an epic job and she is a huge student of the game.”

Others are blunter: “Money is everything as she says. Of course you can have a whole brand change when one video makes you thousands.”

But the loudest take right now is simple: “People want to hate her but she’s the real deal. She will be a superstar.”

Whether you think she’s a fluke, an industry plant, or the new face of pop, one thing’s clear: Addison Rae is no longer just the girl from TikTok. She’s the pop star nobody saw coming.

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Featured image credit: Instagram/@addisonraee