“Diet Pepsi” by Addison Rae, Explained

Addison Rae may have resuscitated pop with her 2023 debut EP AR — just ask stan Twitter — but she’s swinging even bigger on “Diet Pepsi,” the TikTok-forged singer’s just-released debut single for Columbia Records and a sugary sweet (but low-cal) bop about the immortal feeling of being young and in love.

The 23-year-old multihyphenate (who got the Charli XCX cosign on this year’s “The von dutch remix”) has been teasing her sonic return all summer long with cryptic social media clips, soda-can pull tabs and Polaroids sent via snail mail, and an especially winky tweet: “I don’t do coke. I much prefer Diet Pepsi!”

Fittingly, the sultry, whispered, and synth-kissed slow jam (produced by Luka Kloser and Taylor Swift go-to Elvira) perfectly encapsulates the intoxication of a summer romance. Its lyrics paint vivid and steamy pictures: flushed cheeks “red like cherries in the spring,” fogged-up “windows in the parking lot,” and her name written “with lipstick on your chest.”

In the context of these intimate moments, Rae seemingly equates a passionate evening to the all-consuming feeling of first-time experiences. “One touch, XO / Young lust, let’s go,” its lyrics begin, before the sticky chorus goes on to explain “When we’re driving in your car, I’m your baby / Losing all my innocence in the backseat / Say you love, say you love, say you love me.” It’s a euphoric and sexy-sounding confession until a slowed-down outro allows the listener a second to catch their breath.

The track and its nostalgic black-and-white visual recall themes of maturation and blossoming sexuality oft-explored in Y2K pop classics like “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry (which Rae performed in Netflix’s He’s All That) and the Britney Spears staples like “Oops!... I Did It Again” and “(You Drive Me) Crazy.” The song’s title — which comes from an especially flirty lyric “Sitting on his lap, sippin’ Diet Pepsi” — even parallels Spears’ stint as the face of Pepsi in the early 2000s.

Coincidence or not, Rae told Interview Magazine in June that “loving Britney [Spears] is a huge part of my life.” In fact, the opening lyric of “Circus” even inspired one of Rae’s guiding mantras. “I want to create things that are memorable, that provoke thoughts and feelings in people, and I want to entertain,” she explained. “Britney said it best: ‘There’s only two types of people in the world, the ones that entertain and the ones that observe.’”

Suffice to say, as we journey into a new era of Addison Rae pop perfection, we are certainly entertained.