Zohran Mamdani Describes His NYC Mayoral Campaign in 3 Songs: ‘Shout-Out to Taylor Swift’
If Zohran Mamdani were to assemble a soundtrack for his race to become New York City’s next mayor, it would feature tracks by Taylor Swift, Lil Wayne, Drake and more.
Related
While speaking to Pop Base at a recent voter event, the mayoral candidate was all smiles when asked which three songs he’d choose to represent his ongoing campaign. “OK,” he began in a video posted Thursday (Oct. 30), preparing himself to give the best answer possible.
The Queens, N.Y., representative went on to name “Hate It or Love It” by The Game featuring 50 Cent — “gotta put that one in there,” he emphasized — as well as “Right Above It” by Lil Wayne featuring Drake.
Lastly, Mamdani said, “Shout-out to Taylor Swift, ‘Only the Young.’”
The latter choice premiered in the pop superstar’s 2020 Netflix documentary, Miss Americana, which chronicled Swift’s decision to begin speaking out about politics following several years of silence on the matter. The song’s lyrics describe the power of young people to make positive political change with the hook, “Only the young can run.”
Mamdani’s music picks come with just a few days left to go in the NYC mayoral race, which will conclude on Election Day on Nov. 4. The democratic socialist as been the face of one of the largest grassroots campaigns in history, running on a platform of decreasing the cost of living for New Yorkers through lowered rent prices, free public transit and affordable groceries and childcare.
One of his biggest supporters has been Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who also attended the voter event with Pop Base. When asked for her holy trinity of pop albums, AOC — at first declaring, “This is sooo hard!” — named The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Britney Spears’ Blackout and Beyoncé’s Renaissance.
Watch Zohran Mamdani share his campaign soundtrack below.
Powered by Billboard.