It wasn’t enough to gift the world with “Padam Padam” and “Rush” this year — Australians have done it again, with Australian TikToker Candy Moore producing what is sure to be the song of the summer, “Please Don’t Raise My Rent,” a plaintive plea to landlords to have some humanity amidst an increasingly stressful housing crisis.
Just kidding, it’s actually weirdly sexy given the subject matter, but sex does sell. Moore remixed a video posted by James Lemon earlier this month featuring suggestions for what renters could send their landlords in an effort to avoid rental increases. Cue Lemon body rolling while sorta singing, “Please don’t raise my rent Mr. Landlord / Or Ms. Landlord / Or They Landlord / Please don’t do it / Please don’t do it.”
Thanks to the combined efforts of Lemon and Moore, renters now have a song they can blast whenever their landlord comes over for a “surprise inspection.” Taking Lemon’s advice, one commenter wrote, “My landlord is my brother. He didn’t like this at all when I sent it to him.” Bah humbug.
Australia, like many other countries, is in the midst of a rental crisis post-COVID, with rents increasing alongside interest rates. Unsurprisingly, salaries aren’t increasing alongside everything else, leaving renters rushing to figure out how to cover an extra $40, $60 or $100 a week.
A Sydney-based TikToker, Chantelle Schmidt, even took her landlord to court after they attempted to raise the rent on her home by $350 per week, documenting the entire process on TikTok. Unfortunately, her efforts were unsuccessful, forcing her to move back in with her parents outside Sydney while she regroups.
Many praised Schmidt for trying to challenge the absurd increase despite the disappointing result, with one supporter writing, “The more of us that do this, the less likely landlords are to eff us over.”
For those who don’t want to go to the trouble of going to court, just send your landlord this fire track and wait for them to see the light.
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