“Diet Pepsi” by Addison Rae, 2024 – Single Review
Genre: Pop
Addison Rae makes her major label debut with “Diet Pepsi,” and much like a soda that’s lost all its fizz, the single falls pretty flat.
I said it once to a friend so I’ll say it again here: I think people have better artistic vision for Addison Rae than what Addison Rae has for herself. Her current redirection into an indie influenced pop sound feels like an imitation that doesn’t fully understand what it’s imitating. The cool girl, artsy association that has recently been projected onto her music is, unfortunately, nothing more than a projection. With “Diet Pepsi” Addison proves that her brand knows how to replicate and fully embody an aesthetic, but isn’t capable of going much deeper than the surface.
With a title like “Diet Pepsi,” and Addison’s recent change in image, I expected a Lana Del Rey-esque endeavor, à la “Diet Mountain Dew,” and Born to Die more generally, however, I was not expecting an example of what you’d hear if you asked AI to write a Lana Del Rey song.
Blue jeans mention? Check
Gold chain mention? Check
Red lips mention? Check
And all of these lines happen in the first verse consecutively… Now, I’m not opposed to a shameless ode from one artist to another, however, the amateurish use of imagery isn’t clever enough to pull off the blatant references in an endearing way. Not to mention, the artist being referenced is still alive and actively making music. If I want to listen to someone doing Lana del Rey, I’d rather listen to Lana. There’s no hiding poor writing behind a faux-tongue in cheek, overtly referential premise, especially when there are so many simple, light edits that would have vastly improved the song’s lyricism.
verse 1
“My boy’s a winner, he loves the game
My lips reflect off his cross-gold chain
I like the way he’s telling me
My ass looks good in these ripped blue jeans
My cheeks are red like cherries in the spring
Body’s a work of art you’d die to see”
This verse opens with Addison speaking about her love interest to the listener, yet the narrative pov changes in the last line to speak directly to the boy she’s talking about and carries that way for the rest of the song. While this type of narrative inconsistency doesn’t ruin a song and can be done in a purposeful way, the fact that the song never returns to this perspective and only does so to squeeze all the Lana references in there makes this moment seem less intentional and more like an oversight. A simple change from “you’d” to “he’d” in that last line would have fixed this and not made it seem like the song is speaking to two different people.
This first verse also reveals how much this song shows rather than tells. There’s no cleverness to “Diet Pepsi,” what you hear is exactly what you get and there’s very little storytelling happening outside of the chorus. The red cherries line is probably the worst offender here – an overly simplistic and boring use of imagery that also highlights why good writing is so important to the strength of a pop song. Often times when a writer uses “to be” verbs like “are” or “is” it creates a passive voice that detracts from the strength of the speaker’s voice. A simple change here from “are” to “get” would have made this a more descriptive line that actually contributes to the world building and story telling happening: her lover would be doing something to actively make her cheeks blush and “get red like cherries in the spring”. Instead, we get a random simile that could be cut and inserted into any part of this song (or any song about any person frankly).
The second verse is slightly better written because it commits to the time-old tale of having sex in the back of a car during the summertime – without all the unnecessary Lana for dummies imagery. Unfortunately, it still comes across as clunky because the rhyme scheme and flow of the verses make the vocal delivery sound rigid and too staccato, leading to filler lines like “summer love (ah, ah), sexy”. Something about Addison’s vocals have always been very dry, simple, and underwhelming as she adds little to no stylization that separates it from her speaking voice, or separates one song from another, one verse from another, etc.
Luckily, “Diet Pepsi” is heavily supported by its chorus which features Addison’s most impressive vocal work and production to date. In the chorus, she actually varies her delivery for once, including a whispery falsetto and backing, sultry, speaking voice that does wonders in elevating her typical one-note delivery. The chorus structure is also quite catchy and repetitive, making it all you can really remember after listening. It sounds like the rest of the song was an after thought in supporting the catchiness of the chorus. I hope going forward to hear more from her in this style and believe that if she treats all of her art with the same attention or skill or intuition that was brought to this chorus, we will have a way more impressive output from her in the future.
Verse 2
“Break the rules ‘til we get caught
Fog up the windows in the parking lot
Summer love (ah, ah), sexy
Sitting on his lap, sippin’ Diet Pepsi
I write my name with lipstick on your chest
I leave a mark so you know I’m the best”
Unlike the clear reference points that Ms. Del Rey employs, “Diet Pepsi” lacks the comprehensiveness to support the references that it so blatantly makes, in both the lyrics and the accompanying video. Although pop utilizes simplistic song structures and lyricism, people often underestimate the depth that (good) pop music explores. I want to believe that Addison Rae is the cool girl she presents herself as, and her charisma and commitment to proving that certainly shines through, however, she still hasn’t shown an understanding of the forms she’s imitating and instead seems to be throwing random, “edgy” references at the masses to see if something will stick. The same can be said for the song’s music video: while providing viewers with interesting imagery, reminiscent of Tumblr-era photography and Bruce Conner or Russ Meyer’s cinematography, it throws everything at the wall without considering story or purpose.
Now, I’m not angry at this song’s or Addison Rae’s existence in music and do consider her to be an influencer-turned-pop star who demonstrates way more potential than her peers. The chorus is cute and catchy, she’s cute and confident, and I’ll always be sure to keep my eye on what she has to offer. This may have been a more technically critical article from me, but as I mentioned in previous posts, lead/solo singles tend to face the most scrutiny as I try to attune my ears to the artistic moment that the artist is exploring. It’s also the song you have the most time with as a listener and really get to know it for better and for worse. Additionally, because Addison has decided to go down the route of referential art, I think all the little details have to be executed very well since there’s not much to credit to her own unique artistry. My thoughts could soften as they already have on Addison Rae if she does release another full project, and I truly am hoping to hear something from her that I appreciate wholeheartedly. For now though, I think I’ll stick to Diet Mountain Dew.
Rating: 4/10
If you like “Diet Pepsi,” I’d recommend listening to “Blue Jeans” by Lana Del Rey (or any song off of Born to Die tbh), “Perfume” by Britney Spears, and “Kiss Me” by Empress Of
SAVANNAH STOWERS 