The 2026 Grammys brought a performance by singer/former influencer Addison Rae that her 2019 fans would probably call “weird.”
And it was weird.
The artist had a breathy vocal performance and moved with a team of dancers like a bunch of marionettes. It’s a stark contrast to what she was like when she first entered the public eye on TikTok. The videos of her from that era consist of crop tops, skinny jeans and dances in an oversaturated algorithm.
I’ve noticed over the past few months especially what “works” and what doesn’t for people in the public eye and what that has to say about us regular people.
What brought Addison Rae to the Grammys wasn’t catering to a large audience, but focusing on a smaller one instead. In short, she got a little weird with it.
For an artist to curate a brand, they have to know who they are.
Take Lorde, for example. She’s a singer who has created an entire identity around her music and the visuals that go into creating her music. At her concerts, the audience sees her running on a treadmill and sweating through her clothes.
It’s not a pretty scene, but it’s not supposed to be. Lorde is being herself in a way that feels authentically “her.” For anyone to replicate that would be committing fraud.
When people are completely themselves, they channel something that no celebrity or billionaire can fund or pay for. They become something real and as a result, they become timeless.
I like to watch “Girls” when I’m feeling a little bit nostalgic. I didn’t live in Brooklyn in 2014, I came here about eight years later. But there is something to the way four women act unabashedly themselves that resonates with me deeply. All of their problems, guilt, fears and horrible fashion decisions are laid out for the world to see.
For years, we have tried to become an aesthetic. There are tutorials on TikTok on how to be a “clean girl” and how to become a “pilates princess.” There’s “the boyfriend” girl versus the girl in her romanticized “single era.”
In trying to become an aesthetic, we lose everything that curates an aesthetic in the first place.
Without authenticity, there is nothing tangible to hold onto. It’s time to get a little weird with it.
Wear high heels to class. Or don’t. Be the loudest person in the room, or sit in the corner and observe. The point is that doing what feels right to you will resonate more than a cheap imitation of something you’re not.
