It’s a little mo’ money for Zo.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s shelved rap career got a boost from his 2025 mayoral campaign, his tax documents show — but he didn’t exactly bust a move into the big time.
The artist formerly known as Mr. Cardamom earned $2,700 in royalties for the year, not exactly all about the Benjamins, but still double his 2024 income, according to his 2025 tax returns, shared publicly Thursday.
Hizzoner took in $1,643 worth of C.R.E.A.M. from fans listening to his rap songs in the US while he brought in another $1,075 from worldwide royalties, the returns showed.
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.
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