NEED TO KNOW
Before Addison Rae was on her way to pop stardom, she was trying to earn a living on TikTok.
In an interview with The New York Times’ Popcast on Friday, May 30, the “Fame Is a Gun” singer (whose real name is Addison Rae Easterling) revealed that she used to be paid $20 by record labels to share TikTok videos of her dancing to their artists’ songs.
“I actually remember getting little brand deals from labels paying me to post when I was in college,” Rae, 24, who began sharing videos of her dancing in 2019, told the outlet. “They jumped on that really fast. I was like, ‘Oh, this is really interesting’ — that the music industry was really leaning on it.”
Emma McIntyre/Getty
When the podcast’s co-host Jon Caramanica assumed she would have been paid “hundreds of dollars,” she revealed the amount was much less.
“A hundred bucks?! I wish, it was probably like $20. I actually remember being like, ‘Holy s—, $20!’” Rae recalled.
She then revealed the payments were made via PayPal.
“It was actually really sketch,” said Rae. “I was like: ‘Did the $20 hit the PayPal yet?!’”
The PEOPLE App is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!
Ahead of her 12-track debut album Addison, the “2 Die 4” artist released a string of singles including “Diet Pepsi,” “High Fashion,” “Headphones On,” “Aquamarine” and “Fame Is a Gun.”
Rae also released a remix of “Aquamarine” with Arca titled “Aquamarine / Arcamarine.”
In April, she also addressed criticism that her artistry was inauthentic in a cover story for ELLE Magazine.
“I totally get why people may feel like this isn’t who I really am,” Rae told the publication. “But it’s like, ‘No, maybe I didn’t want to show you who I really was because I was afraid of confronting that, and I was afraid of what people would say about it.’”
Addison is due Friday, June 6.
