“I love you guys!” Addison Rae exclaims. We’re wrapping up a Zoom call with Interview magazine editor Mel Ottenberg, the creative director behind Rae’s music video for “Diet Pepsi,” her latest single, out today. As the budding pop star, certified scream queen, and proto-TikToker waves goodbye and makes a heart symbol with her hands (the classic way, not the Gen Z way, in case you were wondering), a bunch of cutesy red hearts unexpectedly fill the screen. Rae screams, then laughs. It’s a sweet, out-of-left-field, IRL-to-URL moment that just feels so Addison Rae—and, by the same token, perfectly summarizes Addisoncore.
It’s only natural, after all, that one of the first TikTok users to find mainstream fame outside of the app—opening the floodgates for scores of dancers and singers after her—should lend her name to a certain vibe, boiling down to a beguiling mix of nonchalance, effervescence, and good old-fashioned star power. Indeed, the release of “Diet Pepsi”—which arrives almost a year after Rae dropped her first EP, AR, following a series of much-discussed, and beloved, demo leaks online—proves that Rae just “gets it,” Ottenberg says. She gets pop music, fashion, the internet, and, above all, herself.
Here, Rae and Ottenberg join Vogue to talk about all things “Diet Pepsi,” Tumblr, and pop-girl summer, as well as to give further context to the term Addisoncore.
Photo: Mikayla LoBasso
Vogue: Mel, Addison, I love this song and video, and I love you two working together. But before we go there, this video is so perfectly Addison. It’s what we’d call Addisoncore. I’d love to know if either of you can give that a definition.
Mel Ottenberg: I saw this tweet about the Richard Kern photo of Addison smoking a cigarette with her toes in the “I’m Sorry” [by Petra Collins for Ssense] campaign. It said something like, “If you’re chill, you’re down for Addison Rae,” and I really loved it. I’m going to find it, but that’s it. I agree.
Addison Rae: You know, chill-girl energy. [Laughs.]
Ottenberg: There’s a certain kind of chill vibe that Addison is giving off. That, to me, is Addisoncore. Addisoncore is very healthy, fun, and energetic. What do you think Addisoncore is, Addison?