Mamdani's Tax Return Includes Rapping Royalties

On Thursday (April 16), New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly released his joint tax return filed with his wife, Rama Duwaji. The details of the return revealed one surprising entry – royalties stemming from his secondary career as a rapper just a few years ago.

According to the 2025 return, Mamdani and Duwaji reported a total income of $145,000 with the bulk of that income stemming from Mamdani’s salary as a state assemblyman of $131,296. Duwaji reported an income of $10,010 from her profession as a graphic designer, which would wind up being $8,860 after deductions.

Mamdani’s royalties from his music totaled $1,643. More than half of those earnings were made from overseas. He rapped under the name Mr. Cardamom while he was working as a foreclosure prevention counselor, after debuting as Young Cardamom back as a student at the Bronx High School of Science. He even joked about being a “B-list rapper” in a post on X, formerly Twitter back in 2019.

Partnering with friend Abdul Bar Hussein (who rhymes under the moniker HAB), the two would release an EP named Sidda Mukyaalo, drawing inspiration from their birthplace of Uganda. Mamdani is the son of acclaimed Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair and Ugandan-Indian scholar Mahmood Mandani. The duo would also be featured on the soundtrack to the Disney film Queen of Katwe, directed by Nair with Mamdani serving as music supervisor.

The amount of music royalties Mamdani earned was an uptick from the previous year’s amount, which was $1,267. Outside of that, his income didn’t change much despite his filing as an individual (he and Duwaji were married last year). This year, they’re expecting a tax refund of $7,000.

The release represents a return to tradition. Previous mayors have made their tax returns available to bolster faith in their position as public servants. That got slightly disrupted when Eric Adams took office, as his return wouldn’t be available until October in his first year.