Politician's Rap Career Surges in Spotlight

0:00It's April 17th. Welcome to music news today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with the story. A New York assembly man named Zora and Mamdani just dropped his 2025 income report, pulling in $145,000. Total. Most of that came from his state salary of $131,296, with just $1,600, $43 in royalties from his old rap days as Mr. Cartamom. Those royalties might seem small, but check the streaming numbers. His tracks blew up big time last year. His 2016 EP Cidamokialo, with partner AJB, racked up 58,000 US streams in 2025 alone, which is 74%. Percent of its lifetime total of $79,000. His single Nani hit 219,000 streams, and S1 Spice pulled 243,000. Mamdani's rap roots go deep, drawing from their Ugandan heritage, with bars and six languages on that EP.

1:02An ACP, and Ace One, Spice even landed on the Queen of Cotway, Disney Soundtrack. As he climbed toward a mayoral run, fans rediscovered his catalog, turning a side hustle into a streaming surge. Streams jumped from under 1,000 in late May, right before his nomination to over 15,000, the week of June 13th to 19th. A, 5082% spike. That political spotlight lit a fire under his music. It's wild how politics and hip-hop keep crossing paths like this, keeping old tracks alive in new ways. Stay tuned for what drops next from artist turn leaders.