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Credit Riz AhmedJuly 23, 2026Music / ListsMusic / ListsYou can trust Zohran Mamdani with the aux

From underground hip-hop to Taylor Swift deep cuts, the New York City mayor finds time to be spectacularly tapped in

ShareLink copied ✔️July 23, 2026July 23, 2026Text Solomon PM

Now it’s no secret that Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani was formerly – in his words – a “C-List rapper” under the name of Young Cardamom. He even performed at Dazed favourite Nyege Nyege festival in Uganda back in 2016. But, while he has now put the mic down and instead spends his days balancing the city budget and calling for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest, Mamdani still finds time to be spectacularly tapped-in with music today.

In recent interviews, the New York City Mayor has shared a particular fondness for deep-cut hip-hop artists like Canada’s k-os, Pakistan’s Shamoon Ismail and Ugandan duo Radio & Weasel. Meanwhile, last year, Mamdani even shared that cult Punjabi-American indie rapper Heems is the reason he decided to go into politics.

Below, from Kim Petras to Kacey Musgraves, we unpack ten of Zohran Mamdani’s favourite tracks and albums.

JAY-Z – THE BLUEPRINT

Starting right at the very beginning of Mamdani’s musical journey is Jay-Z. In a public address earlier this month, Mamdani shared that the very first album he was ever given was a clean version of Carter’s landmark The Blueprint album. “It taught me freedom of expression,” he shared, going on to describe Nas and Jay-Z’s recent reunion performance at Yankee Stadium as a “moment that many New Yorkers will hold dear for years.” Another thing Jay-Z and Mamdani have in common: they both know how to “run this town”.

KIM PETRAS – “LIKE YOUR LOOK”

In an interview at the start of this year, the newly elected mayor was asked whether he had a playlist that gets him hyped up. “My wife prefers calmer music in the morning,” he responded. “I, for some reason, want to listen to Kim Petras or Lil Wayne or Madonna. [Kim Petras’] ‘Like Your Look’ is a great song.”

JA RULE – “NEW YORK FEAT. FAT JOE AND JADAKISS”

While showing off his deep-rooted hip-hop knowledge in his TrackStar interview in the run-up to the mayoral election last year – from Mobb Deep to The Game – Mamdani shared that one song in particular held a dear place in his heart. “My dream is walking out [as New York mayor] to ‘New York’ by Ja Rule and Jadakiss,” he divulged. He later made good on his promise – some politicians, it seems, actually deliver.

The track choice was particularly apt given that Mamdani had previously debated 50 Cent about the imposition of a wealth tax during his campaign – Ja Rule and Fiddy have long been embroiled in a heated rivalry. “Of course he would walk out to that fool,” 50 Cent responded on Instagram. “His [wealth tax] plan won’t affect [Ja Rule]. He ain’t getting no money LOL.”

TATA YOUNG – “DHOOM MACHALE”

While Mamdani walked out to “New York”, his walk-off featured a nod to his Indian heritage – arriving in the form of Bollywood anthem “Dhoom Machale”, lifted from 2004 action flick Dhoom. Himself the son of Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, Mamdani’s 2025 electoral campaign also featured multiple Bollywood-inspired posters.

TAYLOR SWIFT – “ONLY THE YOUNG”

Taylor Swift is, of course, one of – if not the – biggest artists on Earth, but “Only The Young” is a deep-cut even for die-hard Swifties. Appearing as a loose, promo single for her 2020 documentary Miss Americana, Mamdani reportedly discovered the track during a Taylor Swift phase the following year, with the singer appearing on 12 of his top 100 songs playlist of 2021. He has since referenced the song as one of three tracks to describe his mayoral campaign last year, and most recently announced that he would be listening to “Only The Young” in honour of Swift’s marriage to Travis Kelce earlier this month.

DEAR EVAN HANSEN – “WAVING THROUGH A WINDOW”

If Mamdani’s music taste didn’t already seem diverse enough, last year he also revealed that he was a big fan of Broadway musicals, and that he would listen to the soundtracks to Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen while commuting to Albany in 2025. Ben Platt’s plucky “Waving Through A Window”, from the latter, was reportedly his favourite track to belt out in the car.

EIFFEL 65 – “TOO MUCH OF HEAVEN”

Recalling his early experiences of music in a recent interview, Mamdani also shared his love for Italian eurodance group Eiffel 65. “They used to sell bootleg CDs right outside of Tower Records, and that’s where I bought Eiffel 65’s seminal classic,” he said. “A lot of people only know them for “Blue (Da Ba Dee).” “Too Much of Heaven” [is also a] great song.”

KACEY MUSGRAVES – GOLDEN HOUR

As Texas-born country singer Kacey Musgraves’ latest album Middle of Nowhere appears on charts around the world, Mamdani confessed in an interview this month that he was still in love with her breakout 2018 album Golden Hour. “If I’m feeling reflective, [I] throw on some Kacey Musgraves,” he shared. For all his many merits, clearly, Mamdani is still a millennial at heart.

K-OS – “4 3 2 1”

Continuing Mamdani’s deep-cut hip-hop knowledge is his apparent affection for Canadian rap. In an interview with Billboard Canada earlier this year, he confessed that he was a big fan of underground Toronto rapper k-os. “When I was in high school in New York City, you know who I would listen to a lot? A Canadian rapper called k-os. He’s not really underground but he never quite made it in New York,” he gushed, shouting out his tracks “4 3 2 1” and “Zamboni”.

HEEMS – EAT, PRAY, THUG

The biggest testament to Mamdani’s music knowledge of all, however, is that his love of rap music literally led him to become a politician. “I actually got involved in local politics because I picked up a copy of the Village Voice in 2015 where I saw that Heems, who was one of my favourite rappers, was endorsing my childhood friend,” Mamdani told New York radio station Hot 97 last year.

It later surfaced that Mamdani had frequently tweeted at Heems (who, alongside Riz Ahmed, is also a co-founder of rap duo Swet Shop Boys) in his early 20s, at one point writing: “Big boss, I ordered [2015 EP] Eat, Pray, Thug a month ago. When should I expect it at the crib? Much love.”

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