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I love you guys!
Photo: Mikayla LoBasso
Rae screams, then laughs.
She gets pop music, fashion, the internet, and, above all, herself.
But before we go there, this video is so perfectly Addison.
Photo: Mikayla LoBasso
Its what wed call Addisoncore.
Id love to know if either of you might give that a definition.
Im going to find it, but thats it.
Photo: Yasmine Diba
Addison Rae:You know, chill-girl energy.
Ottenberg:Theres a certain kind of chill vibe that Addison is giving off.
That, to me, is Addisoncore.
Photo: Mikayla LoBasso
Addisoncore is very healthy, fun, and energetic.
What do you think Addisoncore is, Addison?
Rae:Thats such a hard question.
Photo: Mikayla LoBasso
I would assume Addisoncore is lots of laughs, a good time, and openness.
Is that a weird word to throw in there?
No, you are one of the most open people I know.
Photo: Mikayla LoBasso
I actually was talking to my therapist about openness the other day.
Yeah, I feel like it lines up.
Im also curious about how this mash-up happened.
Photo: Lexee Smith
How did you decide to work together?
Ottenberg:We met at a dinner, but we had already planned to do theInterviewshoot.
I really wanted to style it, work with Addison, and do it in person.
Photo: Lexee Smith
I loved her vibeso hot and funso afterward, I wanted to do a little more.
I got lucky that Amanda [Silverman, her publicist] and you are very close.
I was like, Oh, its pop-girl summer and I really need to do more stuff.
Photo: Mikayla LoBasso
Addison was down, and Im very lucky to work in that capacity with such a fun person.
She knows the references and is also a sponge formorereferences.
She played the song and said she wanted to do a black-and-white video.
Photo: Yasmine Diba
Rae:Which is scary!
People dont want to do black-and-white videos.
Ottenberg:People have zero attention span.
I thought it would be cool and beautiful and timeless.
We started texting references and a million images.
I had just watchedThe Last Picture Show, this movie by Peter Bogdanovich with Cybill Shepherd.
Rae:Very pure, innocent feeling.
Ottenberg:An American beauty.
Rae:Very youthful but very healthy.
A very natural skin with light makeup and beautiful set hair.
And we love the barrette aspect of it.
No one really wears barrettes anymore.
What else was in those texts of references?
Rae:Oh my gosh, so much.
Ottenberg:Theres a lot of Marilyn [Monroe] in the texts.
Were both into Marylin.
Rae:I was sending you pictures of myself.
She wore a lot of that in the video.
Addison really gave me the groundwork of what she was feeling, and I kept thinking about the song.
I had just met the director Sean Price Williams at a screening I hosted at the Metrograph.
And then Addison she had seen a screening of the movie.
It was just very picturesque.
Mel brought up Sean as someone perfect for the video, and I thought there couldnt be anybody better.
He was just the best energy.
He got the vibe very quickly, and it felt very collaborative.
Ottenberg:It was the funnest shoot day, truly.
She has the best hair.
No extensions now or during the video.
Rae:I want to let my hair do its thing!
The showgirl outfit is one I got off of Etsy.
We added this beautiful pearly brooch to the front that brought a sense of Addisoncore.
So it definitely is a pop-girl summer.
Addison, around a year ago you blessed us with the EP.
I remember texting you a photo of my friend trying to request2 Die 4at the club.
But Diet Pepsi is sonically unexpectedless bubblegum pop and a bit moodier and more late summery.
Can you tell me a little about what went into the song and the visuals?
Rae:Youve always been a real one!
I wrote this song with two of my girlfriends.
We just hit it off and made this the day we met.
It was a really special energy.
Its very rare to have female producers in a room, and theyre both incredible.
I trust Charli, shes always been so real to me and the best big sister in the industry.
I was like, Well, I love Diet Pepsi.
Diet Pepsi feels very Tumblr.
The video would have done numbers in, like, 2011.
Id be reblogging it for sure.
Ottenberg:Its really giving fantasy, chock-full of hit moments.
It felt more unexpected.
Even sonically, its just a different energy.
I think Im multifaceted, and this was the perfect way to introduce another aspect of me musically.
It felt right to lead with this one.
I always knew this was the first.
Is this an album moment?
Okay, youre blushing.
and I wont push you about this on the record.
Mel, you said Addison has really good taste.
Ottenberg:I wanted something sexy that wasnt what everyone is giving in sexy these dayswhich isnt a diss.
It was a whole different vibe.
Madonnas slip dresses in the Secret video are from there.
Shes been around for a really long time.
I just loved the idea that its really warmsummerand youre feeling sexy with your man.
Your man looks so great in the most classic way possible, and you feel really alive and fun.
Jose, where do you think the Venn diagram is landing when you see this video?
I like what you said about the fun and over-the-top-nessthat is a good intersection between you both aesthetically.
Ottenberg:Thank you.
Okay, I found the tweet.
Im not going to do the showgirl outfit if it feels stuffy, but Addison feels comfortable in it.
Thats where I saw the fashion going.
Something you both mentioned in yourInterviewconversation was the idea of the TikToker.
Its been so fun since you announced this song to see everyone react online.
People seem to be very excited.
How do you feel about this evolution and the release of this song?
Rae:To be honest, I dont know.
Im exploring and learning so much about myself.
A lot of it has to do with what we mentioned earlier: my openness to evolving and changing.
When I started on TikTok, I didnt plan on anything specific happening.
I had always had the same dream since I was a little kid, which was to create things.
I had Tumblr, by the way, when I was really young.
Probably way too young.
I was going to say, definitely too young!
Thats where I really started learning a lot about fashion and being curious.
Curiosity is such a big part of who I am.
Ive just followed that, and it really means so much that you say all those kinds of things.
Why did you want to work with Addison?
Why do you like me, Mel?
Ottenberg:I had fun on ourInterviewshoot, and I just thought she was cool.
I definitely noticed Addison in 2020 wearing this floral earth-toned bikini in a hot tub or a pool.
My TikTok in 2020 was also the craziest For You Page.
She was tearing it up so hard.
Rae:That is also Addisoncore!
Thats the ethos of Addisoncore: Dig deeper.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
