On March 23rd, 2024, English singer-songwriter Charli XCX posted a video on TikTok.
The clip showed Charli in the recording studio jumping up and down, excited about the vocals of a collaborator on her new hit Von Dutch (Remix). The collaborator was in the recording booth, and before launching into her verse on the single, she let out a high-pitched scream.
The collaborator on Charli’s song was Addison Rae and that high-pitched scream was completely ad-libbed.
“The moment Addison did this during ad libs,” Charli wrote on TikTok. “One take. none of us knew it was coming.”
Charli’s TikTok quickly reached over 25 million views and the comment section was flooded with excitement for this collab.
Though Addison had gone viral for her singing career before, this was the first time the influencer received genuine accolades for her foray into music.
And it was this 16-second TikTok video, posted by Charli XCX, that solidified Addison’s new era as an indie pop girlie, marking a successful rebrand for the TikTok star.
At a time when influencer re-brands rarely work, Addison navigated this transition successfully. So how did a TikTok dancer from Louisiana become a pop icon with a cult following? And what did it take to get here?
Listen to the full deep dive on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or watch on YouTube below.