Addison Rae Went from TikTok to the Pop Charts

In 2021, the TikTok star Addison Rae released her début single, “Obsessed.” It’s a whispery electro-pop tune about either unapologetic narcissism or chirpy self-confidence—it’s hard to say which. “I’m obsessed with me as much as you / Say you’d die for me, I’d die for me too,” Rae pants on the chorus. The track, co-produced by Benny Blanco, was a great big dud, even despite Rae’s colossal fan base. Back then, TikTok seemed more like a provisional gimmick than a bona-fide rocket launcher; it was harder to imagine an app-born phenom finding genuine purchase on the pop charts. That Rae’s vocals were processed into bloodless oblivion didn’t help. “People weren’t ready to receive that, or me as an artist, which is completely understandable,” Rae, who is twenty-four, said in a recent interview.