"Whose friend is this?"- 50 Cent offers to pay $258K to NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to get away from the Big Apple 

Rapper 50 Cent has offered to pay $258,000 to New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for him to leave the city. The rapper's comments came in response to Mamdani name-dropping him on a podcast earlier this month.

In an Instagram post dated June 26, 50 Cent shared a clip of Zohran Mamdani speaking about his tax plans for the rich. The Democratic mayoral candidate name-dropped 50 Cent and claimed he would not be happy with his taxation policy. In response, the rapper fired shots at Mamdani by questioning his identity and offering to pay a lump sum to convince him to leave NYC. He wrote,

"Where did he come from? Whose friend is this? I’m not feeling this plan. No. I will give him $258,750 and a first class one-way ticket away from NY. I’m telling Trump what he said too!"

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Cent's comments were in response to Zohran Mamdani explaining his tax-the-rich policy on an episode of The Breakfast Club podcast dated June 11. The politician said,

"We’re talking about corporations that are making millions of dollars, not in revenue, but in profit. And the second is taxing the top 1% of New Yorkers. We’re talking about people who make a million dollars a year or more, taxing them just by a flat 2% tax increase."

Mamdani then mentioned Cent and added,

"I know if 50 Cent is listening, he’s not going to be happy about this. He tends to not like this tax policy, but I want to be very clear this is about $20,000 a year."

Zohran Mamdani has been in the headlines after beating former Governor Andrew Cuomo in a major upset in the Democratic mayoral primary election on June 24. If elected the mayor of New York City in November, Mamdani will be the first Muslim and Indian American mayor of the city.

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Exploring Zohran Mamdani's rap career under the name Young Cardamom and Mr Cardamom

Mayoral Candidate For New York Zohran Mamdani Holds Primary Election Night Party - Source: Getty

After Zohran Mamdani became the presumptive Democratic nominee for the New York City mayor, his previous career in hip-hop has come to light. The socialist candidate tried his hand at hip-hop before his rise in the world of politics.

According to the New York Times, Zohran Mamdani began his hip-hop career in the late 2000s. At this time, he was running for student vice president in his school, Bronx High School of Science. Mamdani reportedly lost the election, but it gave birth to his political aspirations.

Mamdani previously rapped under the pseudonyms Young Cardamom and Mr Cardamom. He notably released a six-track EP in collaboration with his longtime friend, Abdul Bar Hussein (rap name HAB), in 2016, titled Sidda Mukyaalo. The EP features HAB and Mamdani rapping in six different languages, including references from the pair's shared Ugandan heritage.

For those unaware, Zohran Mamdani was born in Uganda to Indian parents. His father is academic Mahmood Mamdani, and his mother is popular filmmaker Mira Nair. He moved to New York City when he was seven.

Apart from his 2016 EP, Mamdani also released the track #1 Spice as a part of the soundtrack of the Disney biographical drama, Queen of Katwe. According to Billboard, streams of Mamdani's music have increased significantly since he became the mayoral candidate. One of Mamdani's 2019 songs, Nani, has also gone viral online following his election.

Mamdani and HAP's combined catalogue has seen an increase of 2,300% in the United States and 1,543% globally, reports Billboard. The track #1 Spice has reportedly seen the highest jump, with an increase of 2,600% in the United States and 1,900% globally.

Edited by Niharika Dabral