Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist who now runs New York City, made his 2025 tax return public on Thursday. The filing covered what he earned before taking the city’s top job, and buried inside was something nobody expected: rap royalties.
According to NBC New York, Mamdani pulled in $1,643 from music royalties last year, a modest bump from the $1,267 he reported in 2024. That income came from his past career as a rapper, where he performed under the names “Young Cardamom” and “Mr. Cardamom.” He started rapping in high school, releasing socially conscious tracks in his 20s on subjects ranging from colonialism to Indian flatbread.
When reporters asked about the streaming numbers behind those royalties, Mamdani did not hold back. “A lot of people say they’re listening,” he said, before adding: “They’re not listening.” He then suggested New Yorkers “go to Spotify” if they wanted to help his bottom line.
What his salary actually looked like before becoming mayor
The bulk of Mamdani’s 2025 earnings came from his time as a New York State Assembly member, where he drew a salary of $131,296. His wife, Rama Duwaji, a graphic designer, contributed $10,010 to the household, which came to $8,860 after deducting $500 for art supplies. Their combined reported income was roughly $145,000 for the year.
That number is worth putting in context. While it sits above the citywide median income of around $129,600, finance firm SmartAsset estimates that a comfortable life in New York requires earning more than $158,954 per year. Mamdani’s cost-of-living messaging during his mayoral campaign made a lot more sense once those numbers were out in the open.
His financial picture changes sharply as mayor. The position pays $258,750 a year, and Mamdani has moved into Gracie Mansion, the city’s official mayoral residence on the Upper East Side. The couple also received a tax refund of around $7,011 and picked up a small amount of interest income from two separate accounts. Mamdani’s spokesperson confirmed he had made charitable donations during the year, though these did not appear as itemized deductions because he claimed the standard deduction instead.
He is not the first NYC mayor with an entertainment side hustle
As Hip-Hop Wired notes, Mamdani’s rap career was more fleshed out than most people realize. He first debuted as Young Cardamom while attending the Bronx High School of Science, and later collaborated with his friend Abdul Bar Hussein, who performs as HAB. The two released an EP called Sidda Mukyaalo, drawing from their shared Ugandan roots. Their work eventually landed on the soundtrack for the Disney film Queen of Katwe, a project directed by Mamdani’s mother, acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, with Mamdani serving as music supervisor.
Mamdani is not the first New York City mayor to report entertainment royalties on a tax filing. During his time in office, Michael Bloomberg collected somewhere between $2,000 and $10,000 in residuals from appearances on Law & Order, a 2008 Muppets Christmas special, and the 2011 Matt Damon film The Adjustment Bureau.
Releasing tax returns has become a standard transparency practice for New York City mayors. His predecessor Eric Adams followed the tradition, though his own filings drew attention for different reasons, including write-offs connected to rat mitigation at a rental property in Brooklyn. Mamdani, for now, has the unusual distinction of being the sitting mayor of a city he has been pushing toward a new wealth tax while personally earning music royalties from a rap career most of his constituents probably forgot about.
The wealth tax proposal targets second homes valued above $5 million. Mamdani announced it near billionaire Ken Griffin’s penthouse overlooking Central Park. Critics have pointed to the policy as a sign of broader fiscal ambitions, and Donald Trump has dismissed Mamdani’s economic approach as out of step with the current moment.
