About

Rent Was Due or Rent Is Due is a slang term used to describe someone who does something with a lot of energy and enthusiasm as if their life depends on it. The expression was popularized on Twitter / X around early 2019, being used by K-pop Stan Twitter users in memes about singers over the top performances. Later in 2022, the slang term expanded to actors and other celebrities all over the globe.

Origin

On April 28th, 2022, Urban Dictionary user @Deadric.diggory^[1] posted the earliest definition for the slang term "rent was due," stating that is used "When someone does something with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Almost doing too much." The post (shown below) amassed roughly 55 votes in a year.

The expression started to be used by K-pop fans on X around the late 2010s to describe an artist doing a performance so extraordinary that it looks as if their rent is about to hit the deadline. For instance, on October 28th, 2019, X^[2] user @bumkejk posted a clip from a 2015 performance of the "Sherlock (Clue + Note)" song by the K-pop group SHINee, in which the user added the caption "seems like rent was due the next day," garnering over 259 likes and 105 retweets in four years. (shown below)

Spread

The expression reached a peak in popularity on X in October 2022. For example, X^[3] user @Iatinopercy praised a dance performance from 2022's Matilda movie musical number "Revolting Children" (shown below). The tweet, posted on November 22nd, 2022, shared the dance video paired with the caption "Oh wow dancing like rent was due as the kids would say," amassing more than 59,000 likes and 10,800 retweets in a year.

On TikTok, the slang term is often shared alongside performances from famous singer and celebrities to showcase their talent. For example, on April 26th, 2023, TikTok^[4] user @beyoncesinterlude shared a Beyoncé music performance paired with the overlay text "She had 36 seconds, her lights were cut off, the rent was due, Jay Z, and had nothing in the fridge but honey." The video (shown below, left) garnered over 1.6 million plays and 325,000 likes in seven months. On October 14th, 2023, TikTok^[5] user @chiaraglucia posted a video from Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour Movie with the caption "Whoever edited the rep era for the movie knew rent was due." The post (shown below, right) amassed more than 1.6 million plays and 372,000 likes in a week.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References