Between guest appearances on Coachella stages and a newfound status as the latest “it girl,” the past year seems to be shaping up as Addison Rae’s best yet.

Though her catapult into the current celebrity status started as early as TikTok’s lockdown era, it wasn’t the glowing reception she has been garnering lately.

What began as the internet’s most polarizing figures is slowly transforming into the music industry’s dark horse, with her songs “Diet Pepsi” and “Headphones On” inducted into the pink Pilates princess bible. Slated for her first full-length album Addison, it seems like her path to pop stardom is a clear shot, a far cry from her critically panned debut single.

Released during the height of her TikTok notoriety in 2021, “Obsessed” received no praise for the whispery vocals or the fraughtless lyrical content, and it didn’t quite make the waves on the Billboard Hot 100. A user review from albumoftheyear.com sums it best: “[Internet personalities] see [making music] … as an easy way to make money while capitalizing off of their platform and online fame.” And unfortunately, with the songwriting and production harkening to the generic pop that the internet used to refer to as “H&M music,” many are inclined to agree.

It comes off the heels of so many other ventures—a Spotify-exclusive podcast, the lead role in an ill-fated remake of She’s All That, and multiple partnerships with well-known brands which eventually led to her own business ventures, ITEM Beauty and Addison Rae Fragrance.

Yet, the more things she did, the more annoying she became in the eyes of the public.

This is due to her being in what we like to call the “celebrity limbo.” On one hand, this move toward fame populism is a breath of fresh air amidst the commodification of public figures as brands or products for capitalist-driven consumption. On the other hand, though, the internet also broke down the barriers of traditional media, enabling direct interaction with famous people, removing that degree of separation between them and their fans—the consumers.

Between dancing on TikTok and hanging out with the Kardashians, Addison Rae teetered the line between relatability and unattainability, especially with her attempts to integrate herself into the celebrity zeitgeist through music and acting. That creates a cognitive dissonance that might turn people off her. Jumping between ventures makes an oversaturation of herself as a product, and without clear branding—is she just another girl, or is this another person eager for celebrity-level fame and fortune?—people don’t have anything to attach to or associate with. Thus, they no longer have a reason to care.

But something shifted in August 2022, when songs planned for her album were leaked on SoundCloud. The first two were the scrapped Lady Gaga song “Nothing On (But The Radio)” and “2 die 4”, followed by seven others. Commercial reception was surprisingly positive. This is due, in part, to the nature of leaks: exclusivity marketing. Unreleased tracks have an air of curiosity to them that when found, feels like—for lack of a better word—a “hidden gem.” This made Rae’s music a niche interest.

Her next move redefined her whole career trajectory: She did absolutely nothing.

She stopped posting on TikTok, too. And it killed two birds with one stone. Pivoting in the opposite direction of her overexposure, it also allowed her distance from the influencer persona, offering a clean slate for her brand moving forward, similar to musicians going radio silent after an album era ended. This allowed the leaks to pave the way for her music career.

A year later, her five-track self-titled EP AR would feature the aforementioned songs. “2 die 4” even featured Charli xcx, who had shown her love for the track on Twitter. With that, Addison also obtained the candid endorsement of someone with credentials in the industry, offering her an upper hand by associative strategy to further herself as an artist. It’s a one-two punch doubling down on her favorable reputation as a musician, which she took advantage of by returning xcx’s favor and hopping on the remix of “Von dutch” and reshaping her sonic trajectory with the five singles priming for the release of Addison.

It’s easy to say that Addison’s journey from cringe TikTok star to the internet’s it girl came from the grace of Charli xcx’s endorsement. But looking at the facts, we dare surmise that it was never about the quality of music she put out. It’s even arguable that her singles post-AR aren’t a major upgrade on songwriting compared to “Obsessed” (except for “Headphones On” and “Fame is a Gun”).

But Addison Rae’s brand has involved way beyond a girl vying for everyone’s attention to someone worthy of it. And that beckons the question: all this time, has she actually been a misguided creative visionary that’s way ahead of her times, thrown into the limelight too early?