Zohran Mamdani still making money from fleeting rap career, filings show | New York
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani is still making money from his short-lived career as a multilingual rapper, tax returns show.
But the 34-year-old Democrat’s meteoric rise as a celebrity politician has yielded only a modest boost to hip-hop profits: He earned $1,643 in music royalties last year, up only slightly from $1,267 in 2024, according to filings.
Mamdani, who raps under the monikers Young Cardamom and Mr. Cardamom, joked on Thursday that New Yorkers should “go to Spotify” if they want to help him. “A lot of people say they are listening,” he added. “They don’t listen.”
Mamdani started rapping in high school and in her 20s released socially conscious songs on topics ranging from Indian pancakes to colonialism. He described himself as a “C-list rapper” following in the footsteps of his childhood heroes, including indie rap group Das Racist.
Tax returns shared with reporters Thursday showed that the bulk of Mamdani’s 2025 earnings came from her $131,296 salary as a state Assembly member. His wife earned an additional $10,010 for her graphic design work. They reported joint income totaling approximately $145,000.
As mayor, Mamdani is expected to earn a salary of $258,750 this year.
He’s not the first mayor to acquire New York City’s home entertainment royalties.
According to his redacted 2012 tax return, then-mayor Michael Bloomberg received a balance of between $2,000 and $10,000 from previous appearances as himself in TV’s Law + Order series, the 2008 TV special A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, and the 2011 film The Correction Bureau, starring Matt Damon.
