Zohran Mamdani, rapper turned NYC mayoral frontrunner, embraces diverse roots

By Maria Tsvetkova

NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Not every candidate for New York City mayor has rapped about having the same history as a chapati, or has convinced acclaimed food critic Madhur Jaffrey to perform in a video standing in a food truck, but Zohran Mamdani has.

Born in Uganda, of Indian parents, Mamdani is a former rapper and the leading candidate in the November election. His heritage could resonate in the diverse city he hopes to lead.

Mamdani took a break from music when he first ran for office, winning a seat in the state assembly in 2020 representing Queens, the New York City borough with the largest Indian population.

However, his past life in hip-hop remains a part of his official record. In his annual financial disclosures, the New York state assemblyman lists "self-employed rapper" as among his jobs and he still earns negligible royalties from performing under the names Young Cardamom and Mr. Cardamom.

Early in his music career, Mamdani performed as part of a duo with his childhood friend Hussein Abdul Bar at a music festival in their birthplace of Uganda in 2016.

"Queen of Katwe," directed by Mamdani’s mother, award-winning Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, had also just been released, along with a video for a song contributed by Mamdani.

The Disney DIS.N movie recounts the true story of a girl from a Ugandan slum who becomes a top chess player. Lupita Nyong’o and young actors from the movie appear in the music video.

"He would go on TV for interviews, or on radio for interviews, when his music video was going around on TV,” said Derek Debru, a co-founder of the festival known as Nyege Nyege, which translates from Luganda as "urge to dance."

After meeting a hip-hop producer during the shooting of the movie, Mamdani recorded a few songs of his own.

BILINGUAL RAP

One of them about a flatbread popular in India and East Africa includes the lyric: "I got the same history as chapati, origins of India, but born in UG. Rock brown skin, but I'm Ugandan. I can rap both in English and Luganda."

Mamdani did not respond to a request for an interview.

Another of his projects featured renowned Indian culinary writer and actress Madhur Jaffrey.

Jaffrey, as a cool grandmother in a yellow hoodie, rapped with her middle fingers up, cursed and danced in a street food cart alongside Mamdani, who wore an apron with no shirt underneath.

"I have to make a murder as Lady Macbeth... so what's a few dirty words between us?" Jaffrey said about her role in the video on the talk show Good Morning Britain.

When Democratic candidate Mamdani won the mayoral primary, a friend from his years in Uganda, Magnus Thomson, initially thought that he had been elected mayor. It took him a few days to realize a general election still had to be won.

Thomson, a Dane who was the sound producer on Mamdani's song with Jaffrey, said he was happy Mamdani did not change his democratic socialist views.

"It'd be a different story if he was doing something wildly different or something I didn't agree with, you know," Thomson said.

In a campaign video released in July, Mamdani is seen making hip-hop legend RZA from Wu-Tang Clan laugh by referencing Wu-Tang Financial, a sketch in which the hip-hop stars played financial consultants. Their strategy was described by this line from their hit C.R.E.A.M: "Get the money, dollar, dollar bill, y'all."

The main point of their exchange was RZA's home in the low-income Brooklyn neighborhood Brownsville, which Mamdani said should be a place that people don't want to leave.

Debru believes that Mamdani the rapper shares something with Mamdani the politician.

"We knew who he was. It was really exciting to see... a person like him from his background and also not shying away from his background,” Debru said. “I think this is what made him so special, that he sort of owned who he was."