New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is still making money from his short-lived career as a multilingual rapper, tax filings show.
But the 34-year-old Democrat’s meteoric rise as a celebrity politician has brought only a modest increase in hip-hop profits: he took home US$1,643 in music royalties last year, up only slightly from US$1,267 in 2024, according to the filings.
Mamdani, who rapped under the monikers "Young Cardamom” and "Mr. Cardamom,” joked Thursday that New Yorkers should "go to Spotify” if they want to help his bottom line. "A lot of people say they’re listening,” he added. "They’re not listening.”
Mamdani began rapping in high school, releasing socially conscious songs in his 20s on subjects ranging from Indian flatbread to colonialism. He has described himself as a "C-list rapper” following in the footsteps of his childhood heroes, including the indie-rap group Das Racist.
The tax filings, shared with reporters Thursday, showed the bulk of Mamdani’s 2025 earnings came from his US$131,296 salary as a state Assembly member. His wife netted an additional US$10,010 for graphic design work. In total, they reported a joint income of roughly US$145,000.
As mayor, Mamdani is set to earn a salary of US$258,750 this year.
He’s not New York City’s first mayor to take home entertainment royalties.
According to his redacted 2012 tax return, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg received somewhere between US$2,000 and US$10,000 in residuals from prior appearances as himself on TV’s Law & Order franchise, the 2008 TV special A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa and the 2011 movie The Adjustment Bureau, which starred Matt Damon. – AP
