Mamdani’s moolah: New York mayor still receiving royalties from “C-list” rap career
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani is still receiving royalties from his previous life as a “C-list” rapper, tax filings have revealed.
Before his life in politics came calling, Mamdani took up a short-lived career in rap music during his teenage years and early 20s, where he performed under the aliases of Young Cardamom and Mr Cardamom.
But as it turns out, that spice didn’t particularly help to set his career alight, as he previously described his stint in the music industry as being one of a “C-list rapper”.
Since the Democrat took office and his status as a politician has risen, however, it has not marked a huge upturn in people flocking to listen to his music. The Guardian reported that tax filings shared on April 16th showed that he earned $1,643 in royalties over the past year, compared to $1,267 in 2024.
The mayor subsequently joked that people should “go to Spotify” if they wanted to boost his income from royalties. “A lot of people say they’re listening,” he added. “They’re not listening.”
Throughout his time as Mr Cardamom, the politician often examined social issues in his work, including subjects such as racism and colonialism.
Despite this, Mamdani is unlikely to need the supplementary income, as his salary as the mayor of the Big Apple is set to come in at around $258,750 this year alone.
It comes just after the mayor delivered on his campaign promise of “taxing the rich”, introducing a pied-de-terre tax on homes in the city worth more than $5 million, whose owners do not live in New York.
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