Addison Rae just released her debut studio album, solidifying her status as pop music’s latest ‘it’ girl

Addison Rae is ready to reintroduce herself.

Since amassing more than 88 million followers on TikTok, the 24-year-old has effectively pivoted her career from social media influencer to full-blown pop girl — and her self-titled, debut studio album, Addison, released on June 6, is proof of that. Rae, a former cheerleader from Louisiana, is living out her nostalgic "noughties" dream — and she’s making music that captures that feeling.

On Addison, Rae serves up her now signature trip-hop meets synth-pop sound. “Diet Pepsi,” Rae’s first release since 2021’s “Obsessed,” marked a turning point in the young star’s career: It showcased Rae’s artistry at its most sophisticated. Addison’s 12-song tracklist, through its exploration of fantasy, fearlessness and doing what feels good and right for you, solidifies Rae as both a student of pop divas past and the genre’s latest “it” girl.

“‘Addison’ is out now and alive everywhere in the universe for you to receiveeeeeee!!! This is my most personal and intimate possession,” she captioned an Instagram post. “Making music is vulnerable, energetically sensitive, electric, gratifying, challenging…… pure magic. I am unbelievably proud.”

At midnight on album release day, Rae debuted her sixth single along with the song’s accompanying music video. Showcasing Rae at her most vulnerable, “Times Like These,” which delves into her past and current tribulations, sounds like something you’d hear in a Josh Schwartz teen drama from the 2000s.

Hours before Addison hit streamers, Rae performed a private show at the Box in New York City, where she played the album’s singles and previewed some previously unreleased tracks. She then stopped by a Matchaful to unveil her limited edition “Summer Forever” drink with the café.

Early listeners have spoken: The album is filled with bangers.

“The very fact that addison rae just released a skipless debut album and managed to carve out a signature sound and artistic niche for herself in the oversaturated climate of today’s music market,” one fan named Vidya wrote on X.

“Imagine I just told you that there was a female pop album that just dropped, that talks about familial love, the general angst and confusion you feel in your twenties and radical acceptance, and did it in a way that was really artistically intelligent,” a TikTok user named Sam said. “Now, imagine I just told you that was Addison Rae.”

Another X user raved about Rae’s song “New York,” writing, “obsessed with everything about this track. her starting her debut album with the phrase ‘take a bite of the big apple,’ not only referencing new york but also adam and eve and the beginning of human civilization.. like there’s LAYERSSS. addison rae you are a genius.”

In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, Rae discussed how precious Addison is to her, and how she wants to give the album its moment.

“I think I’m in the space right now where I’m just really anticipating it coming out, and I’m like, trying to hit all the stops,” she said ahead of its debut. “And even with posting and feeling like, ‘Okay, well, I really want to make sure I give this the credit and the energy that it deserves.’ I think sometimes I shy away from that because I’ll be like … ‘Is it going to be too much if I’m just like, ‘Alright, everybody! The album’s this many days away’ … Sometimes I get onto myself about that and I’ll be like, ‘No, it deserves that.’”

Focusing on her passions was more of a risk than a given.

“I just had this really strong intuition and gut feeling that, as unrealistic as it seemed, I needed to do it — there’s no time like now to try and chase those dreams,” she told Elle earlier this year of her decision to pursue music.

The pursuit of those dreams seems to have paid off. Long before she was lauded as a pop princess, Rae was a mainstay on the video-sharing platform, TikTok.

The Louisiana native first joined the app in July 2019, where she posted a slew of content that ranged from TikTok challenges to dancing and lip-synching videos. She racked up a million followers within a matter of months and made the decision to leave Louisiana State University shortly after. The rest, as they say, is history. Rae made her film debut with 2021’s He’s All That, the same year she released “Obsessed.” She starred in the horror flick Thanksgiving in 2023, three months after dropping her EP AR, which features the Charli XCX-assisted track “2 Die 4.”

The release of Addison comes a year after Rae famously collaborated with Charli on the “Von Dutch” remix. From there, she went on to garner widespread acclaim with the debut of her first major single “Diet Pepsi,” a hypnotic, synth-pop track about young lust, in August 2024. The song’s release was accompanied by a black-and-white video conceptualized by Rae herself.

“I think even going [and] watching old movies, and appreciating them for what they are, and how strongly you had to communicate through a black-and-white video, for people to take their time and watch it,” Rae told Lowe of making the video. “And I think the song deserves that treatment of like, ‘I get it. You’re gonna have to focus really hard on it,’ but I want you to have to focus really hard on it to get it.”

Suddenly, after “Diet Pepsi,” it felt as though Rae was inescapable. She joined Charli onstage during her “Sweat Tour” stop at New York City’s Madison Square Garden that September before dropping “Aquamarine,” her single about transformation and rebirth, in October, followed by its remix “Aquamarine/Arcamarine” in November.

Rae ushered in the new year with the release of her third single off the album “High Fashion” in February 2025. On the track, Rae sees no appeal in embarking on a drug-fueled bender and instead opts for the finer things in life: a closet full of couture. She sings, with her soft, atmospheric vocals atop a darker, synthier sound, “I don’t need your drugs/I’d rather get high fashion.”

After gracing the cover of Vogue France, the singer dropped her fourth single in April 2025. With “Headphones On,” Rae gives listeners a peek into how she relies on music as an escape from crisis and reality. The 24-year-old singer then reunited with Charli XCX at Coachella, where she performed the “Von Dutch” remix.

“Fame Is a Gun,” Rae’s fifth and final single — and music video — ahead of album release day, hit streaming platforms in May 2025. The track’s artwork is a photo of a young Rae posing with sunglasses indoors, likely a nod to the fact that Rae has always been drawn to living a glamorous life.

Rae’s album, more than anything, is about arrival.

“It’s arrival to who I feel like I’ve become,” she told Lowe. “I’ve experienced all these trials and ups and downs, and great high moments to land here.”

Whether you’re a fan of Rae or a fan of music in general, Addison reflects an undeniable truth: We’re watching an artist come into her own before our eyes.