On Tuesday, Rolling Stone unveiled its latest cover star, none other than the former TikTok darling and forthcoming pop sensation (?!), Addison Rae. In a time where many (myself included) have bemoaned that “music journalism is dead,” the story is actually rife with revelatory quotes and—I’ll say it—surprisingly endearing anecdotes.
For instance, I learned that Rae doesn’t do coke, she just has ADHD (“I have a lot of energy, and I talk really crazy”); that she attended college with aspirations of becoming a broadcast journalist (“All my prayers out to people who have to write papers on things that they don’t care about”); and that a MAGA chud once cheated on her (“We were really young”). As an unabashed fan since her demo leaked (she swears she had nothing to do with it, by the way), it’s an entertaining read.
Fortunately for me (and the legions of other terminally online people amused by her), the thrust of the piece is Rae’s new music. According to Brittany Spanos, whom I would qualify as a pop expert, the lyrics in her debut album—due out sometime in 2025—are “hypnotic, trance-like pop songs, pulsating and lush.” Spanos also describes the lyrics as being without ego and “threaded with images of a life that’s young, fun, and free: being naked on a beach, flying to Paris on a whim, being drunk at a bar.”
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On an upcoming single entitled, “High Fashion,” Rae declares: “I don’t need your drugs/I’d rather get high fashion.” How very early Gaga of her…
When asked about getting signed to Columbia Records in 2024, Rae claims she sold herself on vibes alone. “I walked in with a binder, and I made a slideshow,” Rae said. “I just mood-boarded my vibes. I literally had no music to play him at that point, so it was about trust. Like, ‘Yes, I’m in the clouds, and I enjoy being there. But I’m also serious.’” If you’re thinking, That last quote must have its own merch line, Rae offers up at least 10 more merch-worthy gems throughout the story.
“IT’D BE SO FUN to have a dog right now…a dog or a cigarette,” she exclaims at one point. “I want to be prim and poise” and “Marilyn Monroe never said ‘y’all,” she says at another. In response to a question about her bizarre age-gap friendship with Kourtney Kardashian: “She got married and has a baby now.…I’ve lived a few lives.” And finally, on the allegations that she, too, is a Trump supporter despite having endorsed the former Vice President during the 2024 election: “People have decided who I am.”
It sounds a lot like Rae will be joining the ranks of this generation’s pop girls. Honestly, can’t wait.
