[Samsung Phone Music Play Earphones. Photo Credit to Pixabay]

Addison Rae, the Tiktok star turned singer, is thriving with the release of her new single “Diet Pepsi,” which has quickly gained popularity for its ethereal sound and impressive streaming growth since its debut on August 9th, 2024.

When one listens to the likes of Whitney Houston or Ed Sheeran, such descriptions seem to fit them without needing further explanation.

But when it comes to the sounds of Addison Rae’s first discographies, one is less likely to agree — apparently.

Born in 2000, Addison Rae Easterling is an American singer, songwriter, and actress.

Ever since her fame, her family has been growing in popularity as well; her parents have their presence on TikTok with approximately more than 19 million followers.

Rae began her social media career when she went viral on TikTok, amassing over 88 million followers in 2019.

Prior to this, she briefly attended Louisiana State University with a focus on sports broadcasting.

Approximately two years after her rise to fame, in 2021, she debuted in the music industry by releasing her single “Obsessed”; this release sparked mixed reactions among many netizens, with some saying that “her millions of TikTok followers are unparalleled to her singing abilities” and that “[they] don’t get the hype about her”.

Despite the criticism, she didn’t stop writing songs.

Following her debut, she wrote more discography and collaborated with well-known musical artists such as Charli XCX.

However, currently, the TikTok star is reaching the ultimate pinnacle of her career with her recent single release, “Diet Pepsi”.

Reminiscent of Lana Del Rey’s “Diet Mountain Dew”, this song employs an ethereal, smoky mid-tempo tune that has caught the eyes of many since it dropped last month.

Rae’s global presence on music platforms has surged, with her global monthly listeners on Spotify increasing by more than 450 percent with an astounding 8.2 million.

“Diet Pepsi,” despite being released a little over a month ago, already has global streams increasing higher than ever since its release on August 9th, 2024.

The song is currently playing in around 95,000 posts on Tiktok, hitting the 8th most used sound on their Viral 50.

With dance trends sparking here and there, it is truly off to a promising start that could lead to Rae’s first commercial hits.

Demonstrably, the song is extremely attuned to the needs and wants of the contemporary audiences; many listeners have comparedher new release to Selena Gomez, Lana Del Rey, and Britney Spears, and other artists many of the Gen-Z tend to favor.

The tune runs for 2 minutes and 50 seconds, following the B flat and A major key signatures.

Although this is different to the contemporary preference for C major and A minor, it doesn’t stop the contemporary audience from playing the song on repeat; each vocal note represents the pulse of the present, depicting the essence of a generation.

As a result, “Diet Pepsi” mirrors the quintessential MZ experience, with each melody having visual twists reminiscent of the late ‘90s.

Her new discography paradoxically stands out from her past ones, as evidenced by the growing statistics, with her emotive vocals and powerful melodies.