Share and Follow
Zohran Mamdani, known to his fans as Mayor Zo, is seeing a modest increase in his income thanks to his music, despite his political career taking the front seat.
The former rapper, who once went by Mr. Cardamom, experienced a bump in royalties during his 2025 run for mayor. His recently released tax documents reveal a modest $2,700 earned from his music, a significant step up from his 2024 earnings, though not quite enough to claim hip-hop stardom.
The breakdown of his earnings shows that Mamdani garnered $1,643 from listeners in the United States. Meanwhile, international fans contributed an additional $1,075, as detailed in his publicly shared tax return.
His global audience has expanded as well. An estimated 550,000 people streamed Mamdani’s tracks in 2025, a notable increase from the 215,000 listeners recorded the previous year, according to Spotify’s revenue estimates.
About 550,000 people streamed his music worldwide in 2025, which is a boost from the 215,000 who listened the year before, according to an estimate based on Spotify profit payouts.
In 2024, he made $1,267 in total royalties, to go along with his state Assemblyman salary that remained at $131,000 year to year.
The bump in money for Mamdani came as he became a household name after he easily defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a slew of other Democrats in a primary last June.
His ascension continued as he won the general election in November and became one of the most recognizable politicians nationwide.
Mamdani traded in his rap career for politics when he launched his a successful state Assembly run in 2019. During his unremarkable stint as a rapper, he even appeared in a music video for his song “Nani,” where he showed up in a halal cart, shirtless except an apron.
“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,” his alter-ego Mr. Cardamom tweeted in November 2019.
While the Democratic Socialists of America comrade earned six-figures, his wife, Rama Duwaji, failed to even pull in more than four-figures for her often touted artist career, the docs show.
She reported making $8,800 in 2025, according to the jointly filed tax return.
“$140,000 a year is more than enough for a socialist couple living in a rent stabilized apartment in Astoria,” political consultant Ken Frydman said in reference to the pair’s former pad in Queens.
“A $258,750 mayoral salary and rent-free mansion is way too much for a socialist couple living in Manhattan,” the operative quipped about Mamdani’s new salary and home as mayor.
The newly married couple were able to cash in on President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill — boosting their standard deduction from $29,000 to $31,500 — giving them a refund of $1,300.