Socialist NYC mayor candidate Zohran Mamdani gets mo’ money in royalties from hip-hop past as ‘Mr. Cardamom’: tax returns
It’s mo’ money for Mamdani.
Democratic socialist and Big Apple mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani still reaps royalties from his rap career — although it’s not much C.R.E.A.M., his tax return released Tuesday revealed.
The Queens politician’s tax return for last year showed $1,267 in royalties, from his days as a self-described “B-list rapper” who used the stage name Mr. Cardamom.
But it’s no hard-knock life for the candidate, who raked in a $131,000 salary as a member of the state Assembly.
Mamdani’s Mr. Cardamom alter ego tongue-in-cheekily extolled the virtues of racking up cash in his 2019 song “Nani,” a ditty penned as an homage to his grandmother — or nani.
“Get the guap, spend a rack on ya Nani,” one verse trumpets.
The music video for “Nani” featured an elderly-but-game Madhur Jaffrey — a legendary cookbook author and actress — gleefully playing the role of a spark-plug grandmother, cage fighting, lip-syncing to Mamdani’s rhymes and even throwing up a double middle finger.
Mamdani himself shows up in a halal cart, shirtless under an apron.
The lively video roughly coincided with Mamdani’s successful run for state Assembly, from which he has unapologetically pushed for progressive causes — and eventually launched his mayoral campaign.
Polls show Mamdani in a firm second place behind frontrunner Andrew Cuomo. Despite his socialist bonafides, he is also leading the crowded Democratic primary field in fundraising — hitting the $8 million maximum limit for candidates who get public matching funds.
Mamdani’s rap rewards supplemented his $131,000 salary as a state Assembly member, the return shows.
