Happy August, did you miss me last week? During my usual writing time I was busy being fitted for a walking boot for a stress fracture in my foot (lol). I just ordered stickers to bedazzle my boot, right in time for Outside Lands (a podiatrist-approved outing!).
Anyway, it worked out for the best because last week I was in the mood to expand on my Addison Rae shpeal from TibsLog #3, and on Monday she announced her new single that dropped last night. Which makes this beautifully timely :) Let’s get into it.
Did you get the memo? Addison Rae is a pop icon now
Addison Rae won the TikTok algorithm lottery in 2020 and rode the Hype House wave of fame into public consciousness. Miles Bonsignore said it best on a pod - she’s always been good at being regular. Dare he say, the best at being regular. The random explosive rise to fame on TikTok had to happen to someone (someone white, blonde, pretty, thin… unsurprising, but I digress), so her unearned fame doesn’t bother me much. But I’m always compelled to see what internet explosive breakout stars do with their newfound fame…
And Addison Rae has done well. She was ready for a public career because she was preparing for it. By the time she blew up on TikTok, she already had a childhood in the competitive dance circuit, and (the beginnings of) an education in TV broadcasting in her toolkit. More than anything, she had the secret sauce: shamelessness.
Addison had the brazen confidence and courage to spend several years trying various ventures and fail big, publicly, and embarassingly - all of which ultimately helped her perfect the craft of being a public personality. Now, she’s armed with the skills needed to step into potential pop iconhood.
Let’s break down the awkward years during her transition from TikTok to the mainstream… which might be the last time she crossed your radar if you’re not online:
There were some classic forays into retail: A fragrance line, the now sunsetted ITEM Beauty makeup brand at Sephora (rip Lip Quip you were a dream).
There was the hard-to-watch attempt at acting with Netflix’s He’s All That.
There was the confusing era when she was on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and cozying up with Kourtney Kardashian.
And there was the first attempt at music: Obssesed, complete with a live performance on Jimmy Fallon. (BTW sidenote: Her Fallon appearance went viral for being cringe, but all I’ve ever seen is a girl who has what it takes to commit to performance. She’s got dance training and a shamelessness to commit, which not a lot can say! We’ve got autotune! This was good!)
Unlike her Hype House counterparts (see: the D’amelio’s), it felt clear from the start that Addison was playing the long game, and had her sights set on something bigger. She took her time moving through various elite LA social circles, and assembled a team whose roster represented A-list Hollywood talent. The time Addison took to build this network, assemble the right star team, and figure out who she wanted to be is helping her create high quality stuff now... it seems like she’s letting her team do what they do best, and just being the face of it.
Somewhere over the past few years, she became friends with CharliXCX, and Addison’s leaked music online gained a cult following dominated by the queer community. She released an EP of her most viral leaks last year (iconic), with a surprise CharliXCX feature and critics loved it. It was fun, poppy, and sounded so ironic that it looped back to being unironic.
But the internet hadn’t warmed up to her new direction yet… The AR EP got a lot of shit online, which I thought was fascinating - people hated it by calling it low-quality, basic, and plain bad low grade pop… presumably, this was dislike for Addison, and maybe even her vocals, which is fair. But claims of it being low-quality or badly made blatantly misguided; everyone else involved in making the EP have long successful careers of creating highly acclaimed, often by the same people who were hating on this EP. I mean, I Got It Bad was a Lady Gaga demo.
Brand perception is so powerful it blows my mind - you could have an Avengers creative team put together something brilliant but if the public doesn’t like the face of it, they’ll dismiss the quality of the whole thing… A 360 piece of pop requires so much different artistry that goes ignored if people don’t like the performer - producers, creative directors, cinematographers, stylists, graphic designers… in Addison’s case, she is only the performer. It’s always felt unfair to discredit the rest of the work based on judgement of only her contribution. I guess that’s showbiz.
Anyway, after spending several years of carefully-calculated socialite-themed paparazzi shots, Addison has chipped away the public memory of her TikTok era. It doesn’t hurt that she collaborated with CharliXCX on the Von Dutch Remix, right before Charli’s own career explosion this summer. Timing is on Addison’s side for her to make a big move right now, and with the release of Diet Pepsi last night, I imagine her team is doing everything to get an album out this year.
It’s too fresh for me to have concrete thoughts yet, but Diet Pepsi is good. This music video would have loved 2005 Abercromie & Fitch. It would have loved 2013 Tumblr era Lana Del Rey. And honestly, that’s a market gap in the white girl pop landscape of the summer, so this is a smart move by Team Rae.
It’s continues to be white girl pop summer. Watch this space.
Today's log reminds us that I would have been a jock if I wasn’t iron deficient until this year. On my mind:
OBSESSING: The USA men’s gymnastics team - bringing our first medal since 2008! Mr. Pommel horse aside, their team spirit was infectious - these guys are having the most fun, and it’s so refreshing. Have you seen this clip of them Simba’ing Asher Hong for the jumbotron? An NBC commentator said it’s because each member is an NCAA athlete, so teamwork breathes through their understanding of the sport itself - thats why they’re rooting for each other harder than any other team on the floor. And apparently, their team is on a mission to make gymnastics cool again. It’s so cute, and it’s working.
STILL OBSESSING: The USA women’s gymnastics team :) Talk about teamwork radiating within an individualist sport! There are a million articles out there about Suni, Jordan, and Simone’s friendship, but I’ve been especially moved by their spirit alongside Rebeca Andrade: Simone and Jordan bowing to Rebeca Andrade on the podium is tearjerking, goose-bumps raising and literally what sports is about!!!!! What a sweet image I could cry!!!!! (PS: this clip of Suni and chatting with Rebeca… how freaking sweet!!!)
OBSERVING: J-14 magazine is returning to print, and Bratz.com returned last year with a collaboration with the Jenners… Will nostalgia and the return of Y2K in the culture cycle be able to sustain the return of these businesses?
THINKING: Last week at dinner, I said that Avatar The Last Airbender wasn’t actually about Aang’s powers, and Harry Potter wasn’t actually about wizards. My friends looked at me like: ??????. To me, stories are exclusively about emotional arcs and relational journeys. They’re either about how someone changed as a person, or the friends they made along the way. Plot & worldbuilding are just accessories! Vehicles to communicate emotion! (Booooooo, we get it you were a communciation major 🍅)
I was genuinely baffled that it was considered an extreme take, and then I tuned into Guilty Pleasure’s pod, where Zach asserts that Ratatouille is not about cooking but instead about the creative process (to a very baffled Kelsey who’s like dude… it’s also about the cooking…). That’s the beauty of the internet baby, you’ll find your people.
WATCHING: Dua Lipa’s Levitating choreography from Glastonbury ft. her backup dancer who looks like the vampire Lestat.
LISTENING: British RnB boyband No Guidnce, who I just discovered (took me long enough). Extra reading: NME mag feature.
That’s all for now. Is this format better?
See you next week cuties.
honestly i look forward to this series every week it's like we're having a chat and i get a little glimpse into tibstivities 💛 ur way of storytelling + writing is sooo dynamic and fun (i do click all the hyperlinks btw!!!) as fizz said, articulation is an art and ur nailing it!!!! let's get it!!!!!
this made me check out addison rae’s new song ! also re:thinking section, i’m manifesting the internet matches me up with my thought twins, could use the resonance