Addison Rae Makes New Debut on the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Diet Pepsi’

Addison Rae has officially become a Billboard-charting artist for the first time, with her single “Diet Pepsi” debuting at number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Released on August 9, “Diet Pepsi” was produced and written by Luke Kosner and ELVIRA. In the song, Rae delivers the lyrics, “When we drive in your car, I’m your baby. Losing all my innocence in the backseat,” over a moody, melancholic beat. This single marks a significant shift from the artist’s earlier musical efforts, including “Obsessed,” which had a more pop-centric sound compared to the alternative vibe of “Diet Pepsi.”

omg i just got an addison rae polaroid and some pull tabs in the mail?? anyways stream diet pepsi pic.twitter.com/JGG8jGS3uI

— dani ✿ (@rodrigosmenu) September 16, 2024

Since its release, “Diet Pepsi” has gained traction on TikTok, amassing over 204k posts. It has been featured in videos by Kylie Jenner and was even used by the Harris campaign to promote her presidential bid. Rapper Jack Harlow also showed his support for the track, mentioning that he can’t get the song out of his head.

Billboard attributes the song’s chart entry to its surge in streaming numbers, “It arrives with 5 million official U.S. streams (up 9%) and 487,000 all-format radio audience impressions (up 111%) Sept. 6-12, according to Luminate.”

Despite the success of “Diet Pepsi,“ the singer has faced criticism for her earlier musical work, as “Obsessed” received negative feedback from the public. Rae shared with Vogue that she was hurt by the response.

“I’m pretty hard on myself in general. I have very high standards for myself, and that can be my downfall sometimes. I just wanted people to know that I really care about music and that I take it seriously,” the artist told Vogue, “Maybe I’m not good enough to do this.”

Moving past previous criticism, fans were thrilled to see the “2 Die 4” singer make her debut on the Hot 100.

You can listen to “Diet Pepsi” here.