Mayor Zohran Mamdani Wants to Restore NYC’s Rap Capital Status: ‘We Can’t Be Content With … Simply Being the Birthplace’

Hip-hop was founded in the Bronx in 1973, and 53 years later, New York City’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to restore the Big Apple to rap capital glory and remain the genre’s centrifugal force.

In a new short documentary that Billboard exclusively premieres on Wednesday (Sept. 30), Mamdani sits down with Nas to discuss the state of hip-hop in New York City, its origins and the future.

“We can’t be content with New York City simply being the birthplace of hip-hop,” Mamdani tells Billboard. “We want it to still be its home, and that means ensuring that the artists who create here are actually able to live here.” 

The mayor is also working to continue solving the city’s housing crisis: “If we allow New York to become such an expensive city that art becomes a luxury good, then we are depriving future generations from the magic of art. New Yorkers deserve a city that is a living, breathing testament to what it looks like when we create the conditions to help this art form flourish.”

Mamdani, who once rapped under the alias Mr. Cardamom, spoke with Nas at a park nearby, where the rap deity was raised in the Queensbridge Projects.

“Hip-hop unveils the truth. Hip-hop tells you exactly what your city looks like, sounds like, feels like,” Nas says in the doc while rocking a vintage New York Mets Darryl Strawberry jersey. “It was an outcry from people who demanded things to change and to tell the world what we were going through. And that came from a city that was going through a whole lot.”

The clip also recaps the mayor’s trip to the Bronx School of Hip-Hop on the first day of classes earlier in September. Located in the Claremont section of the borough, hip-hop serves as the foundation of the school’s curriculum. Students opened up about their journey and hip-hop’s influence, while Fat Joe made a cameo.

“It’s, like, surreal that New York City Mayor’s Office, the chancellor’s office — this is their school. They said we are going to back this,” adds School of Hip-Hop principal Jason Reyes. “Who would have ever thought that hip-hop would make it this far? So, it means the world to know that our city is leading the way in a way that no one else has ever done it. And that’s New York.”

At just 34 years old, Mamdani became the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor in 2025. His policies have even drawn the ire of one of his favorite rappers, 50 Cent, but the mayor still has plenty of love for the G-Unit leader.

Watch Nas and mayor Zohran Mamdani talk all things NYC hip-hop below.