New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has opened up about his eclectic music taste in a new interview with Rolling Stone, revealing that Pakistani rapper Shamoon Ismail has been part of his regular listening for several years.
Asked what he’s currently playing, Mamdani said he’s been listening heavily to Radio & Weasel, a Ugandan duo who dominated the charts for years, one of whom has since passed away. He then added that he’s also been into Shamoon Ismail, a Pakistani rapper he’s followed for a few years.
For more introspective moods, Mamdani turns to Kacey Musgraves, saying her new album is great and that he’s still listening to Golden Hour.
The mayor’s cross-cultural playlist tracks with his own background — he was born to a Ugandan father and an Indian mother — and with a musical résumé that predates his political career. Before entering politics, Mamdani performed as a rapper under the name Young Cardamom, even playing Uganda’s Nyege Nyege festival in 2016.
This isn’t the first time Mamdani has name-checked South Asian and diaspora artists. He has previously described deep-cut hip-hop favorites like Canada’s k-os alongside Shamoon Ismail and Radio & Weasel, and has credited Punjabi-American rapper Heems with inspiring his decision to go into politics. His broader list of influences also reportedly includes Taylor Swift and Kim Petras.
For Shamoon Ismail, the shoutout is a notable moment of international recognition. The Islamabad-born artist is known for blending Punjabi music with blues, and has built a following with songs like “Tum Tum,” “Marijuana,” “Taare” and “On & On.” He’s been nominated for a Lux Style Award and has grown his audience largely through independent releases on platforms like Bandcamp and SoundCloud since the early 2010s.
Mamdani’s comments, published this week, add to the growing visibility of Pakistani music among prominent public figures in the West — and offer another glimpse into how the mayor’s personal cultural touchstones continue to inform his public identity, even as he settles into the demands of governing one of the world’s largest cities.
