When someone’s running for mayor, it’s natural for people to dig into their past life for scurrilous gossip and potential smear material—questionable tweets, drunken escapades in college, or criminal charges that might have landed them behind bars. But anyone doing opposition research on New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani will stumble upon very different kind of bars, if you catch our drift.
It turns out that before getting into electoral politics, the 33-year-old democratic socialist had a rap career, performing under the monikers Young Cardamom and Mr. Cardamom. He even caught DeadAnt’s attention all the way back in 2019 with Nani, a tribute to his grandmother Praveen Nair, a former social worker and chairperson of the nonprofit organisation Salaam Baalak Trust. (When it comes to Indian-American politicians with a sideline in funny rap, DeadAnt always has the scoop!)
In the lead-up to the 24 June Democratic primary—which decides the Democratic nominee for the post of NYC mayor—Mamdani has emerged as a surprise challenger thanks to an extremely online campaign that includes plenty of collaborations with comedians and content creators. And his efforts have translated as former governor Andrew Cuomo conceded the primary to Mamdani earlier today.
With Mamdani’s newfound social media fame, many others are now also learning of Mamdani’s musical past, with many of his songs now going viral. Like Nani, whose music video features Indian-American actor Madhur Jaffrey playing a badass, weed-smoking gangsta granny. (Side note: Mamdani is the son of Monsoon Wedding filmmaker Mira Nair, which earns him even more bonus points with the desi crowd.)
The music video’s YouTube comment section is now overrun with New Yorkers—and plenty of others from around the world—who gave Mamdani their vote of confidence. “I love how every other politician has a crazy scandal and Zohran’s just out here with a track about his Nani (grannie),” reads the top comment. Another user said, “I don’t even live in NY but please, please, y’all gotta make him mayor, if only for this banger.”
This is not the first time that Mamdani’s rap talents have come in handy during an election. According to the New York Times, Mamdani first rapped publicly when he was running for vice president as a junior at the Bronx High School of Science. He later formed a rap duo with his friend Abdul Bar Hussein, releasing the six-track EP Sidda Mukyaalo in 2016. The EP included songs in six different languages—including Swahili, Hindi and Luganda among others—in which the duo rapped about their Ugandan heritage.
Mamdani’s electoral campaign was characterised by the same mix of tongue-in-cheek humour and populist progressive politics that you can hear in Mr. Cardamom’s music. He’s affable, he’s got impeccable comic timing, and plenty of rizz—all of which have made him the favourite candidate of New York’s social media cool kids.
He even collaborated with comedian and comedy content creator Cassie Willson for a satirical video that highlights his policy agenda. He called Eric Adams “a terrible mayor” on an episode of Subway Takes, the popular TikTok and Instagram account run by Kareem Rahma. Indian comedian Kaneez Surka—who moved to New York in 2022—asked him for dating advice. No wonder he’s inspired a number of Instagram fan groups, including Hot Girls For Zohran and Hot Boys For Zohran.
“New Yorkers of all ages are engaging with the world around them through their phones,” Mamdani told The Guardian, explaining his digital-first campaign strategy. “One reason we’ve been able to get so many to engage with us is that they’ve heard about our politics in places they typically would not.”
With this win in the Primary, Mamdani moves closer to becoming the first Muslim mayor of New York City. As the 33-year-old’s star rises, it looks like he has a promising career in politics ahead of him, with a strong constituency of young, hip voters backing him—many of whom would otherwise have stayed neutral or apolitical. Mamdani’s campaign is also a fresh blueprint for progressive politics, at a time when the Left seems to have lost its way. He reminds us that campaigns can be fun and relatable, without resorting to smears and fear tactics. Sometimes, all it takes is getting the funny people on your side.
comments
comments for this post are closed