From rapper to NYC mayoral candidate: How Zohran Mamdani became ‘worst nightmare’ of Trump

Democratic Party’s Zohran Mamdani has stunned everyone after his win in the race for New York City’s mayoral primary on Tuesday (June 25) and defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The 33-year-old state representative of Indian origin will become the city’s first Muslim mayor if he wins the general election in November. However, before he chose this path, he used to be a rapper, Young Cardamom or Mr. Cardamom.

Calling himself a “B-list rapper” on his X account, he promoted his April 2019 debut “Nani”, a tribute to his grandmother. The song features actress Madhur Jaffrey as his grandmother, who Cardamom chastised as “not a good nani”. He then begins rapping about being “the best damn nani that you ever done seen”. Later in the video, he raps in a food truck, “Go head make a wrap for your nani/Get the gwop spend a rack on your nani.”

The video on YouTube has over 200,000 views and 43,105 streams on Spotify. Mamdani told the New York Times that the song was written in 2017. It is about his grandmother, Praveen Nair, who was the chairperson of Salaam Baalak Trust.

Mamdani started rapping when he was in school. In 2015, he adopted his moniker Young Cardamom. In 2017, Mamdani released a song with his friend Abdul Bar Hussein (rapper HAB) called #1 Spice for the movie Queen of Katwe, for which he served as a music supervisor. He movie was directed by his mother, Mira Nair.

In an X post for his moniker, Mamdani wrote, “You know I'll be forever spicy but I'm taking a break from being a spice to answer the question of what happens when a B-list rapper runs for office. Come through @ZohranKMamdani if you want answers.”

Replying to his post from his other account, which he uses as a politician, he wrote, “I’m running for NY State Assembly here in Astoria and I’m doing it bc I spend each day at work coming up against the legacy of Albany’s bankrupt policies. Our reps have turned family homes into investment properties while letting public housing fall into decay and disrepair.”

The Indian origin socialite, who calls himself the “worst nightmare” of US President Donald Trump, became a US citizen in 2018. He ran for a seat in the New York State Assembly two years later. He currently serves as a New York Assembly member. The 33-year-old will become the first South Asian and first Muslim mayor of the city, if elected in the November polls.