Following a successful year in music, Addison Rae released her first song of 2025 titled “High Fashion” on Valentine’s Day. The song’s music video currently has over 2.5 million views on YouTube despite coming out less than three weeks ago. While Rae now works to solidify herself more in pop culture history, fans note the drastic metamorphosis she went through musically and aesthetically to get to where she is today.
The idea of changing one’s image and sound marks a cornerstone of a successful career for a female music artist. Music legends like Cher and Madonna never stayed still, with their voices changing shape just as often as their onstage outfits. Cher, known as the “Queen of Reinvention” began her music career as part of a husband and wife folk-rock duo before transitioning into auto-tuned pop music. Madonna’s career revolved around kitschy disco music before she transitioned into a more adult sound.
This cycle of reinvention goes beyond the icons of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Today, the same trend repeats with modern starlets like Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter. With every album Swift dreams up a new aesthetic and world to support her music. Carpenter recently rose to prominence in the pop music landscape, similarly to Madonna, by focusing on more adult themes when compared to her previous releases.
Now, Rae faces the challenge of maintaining the success she achieved from her reinvention by separating herself from her start as a TikTok creator. Growing popular for simple dance videos and comedy skits, Rae reached unprecedented heights on the platform by the end of 2022, reaching over 86 million followers, according to Forbes. With her newfound fame, she shifted her path from a Louisiana State University student to a full-time content creator. She then moved to LA to join a content creation group named “Hype House,” where young influencers lived together to easily and efficiently create new content daily.
After years of posting the same type of content and amassing a large social media following, Rae released her debut single “Obsessed” in the spring of 2021. The single received judgement by both critics and fans alike for its use of basic lyrics and generic sound. One viewer of the single’s music video commented that it “sounds like something H&M will play endlessly (for) the next 5 years.”
The music video for the single featured Rae and backup dancers all wearing the same trendy white top and bottoms. One main critique of the music video was the lack of substance and soul, according to Popdust.
The general disapproval of Rae’s music all changed last summer with the release of what many have called her real debut single, “Diet Pepsi.” Praised for a complete tonal, aesthetic and sonic shift, this reinvention by Rae skyrocketed her back into the cultural discussion and set her up for an extremely successful debut album. By utilizing explicit language and mature themes within her lyrics, she signaled to listeners that she joined the ranks of the female pop stars before her and made a turning point for herself and her image.
Rae’s reinvention was further solidified by the release of “High Fashion.” With this song, Rae signaled to her fanbase and critics alike that this change is real and here to stay. The music video for the new single references hard drugs, includes alternative shooting techniques and smoking. This video differs drastically from Rae’s previously criticized music video, with those same critics now praising Rae’s production style and musical image as being camp, alternative and tasteful, according to Atwood Magazine.
This idea of reinvention is not lost on female artists attempting to break into the scene. Up-and-coming artist and UT student Audrey Price said she believes this pressure to transform yourself into something new as a female musician can be both freeing and stressful.
“For me, (the pressure to transform) has been relevant lately,” Price said. “I started with soft, kind of sad, quiet music. Coming to Austin (and) starting to play live (and) starting to discover more of myself as an artist has led me more towards western country (and) folk music … being able to do that has been very freeing.”
Although Price is steady in her current style and genre of music, feeling as though it represents her authentic self, she recognizes the importance of reinvention for many artists.
“Every part of your sound, every part of your brand, has to be reverberating (a) sound and message,” Price said. “That is something (Addison) did really well, and I think I definitely take notes from that.”
