Zohran Mamdani celebrated his victory in the New York City mayoral election by walking out to Ja Rule's track, "New York," for his victory speech in Brooklyn on Monday night. The move came as he had been feuding with Ja's longtime rival, 50 Cent, in recent months. Earlier in the day, 50 had shared an AI-generated image of a tombstone declaring the death of his hometown in anticipation of Mamdani's win.
The drama between the two began after Mamdani's appearance on The Breakfast Club, earlier this year. On the show, he explained his plan to raise corporate taxes and impose an extra two percent tax on the top one percent of New Yorkers. The idea didn't sit well with 50 Cent.
Mamdani addressed 50 Cent's concerns during an appearance on MSNBC's The Beat with Ari Melber on Monday. “He’s a critic!” Mamdani said. “I didn’t even know what my salary would be until I opened up Instagram and saw this thing that was like, ’50 Cent offers Mamdani x-amount of money.’ I was like, ‘That’s a very specific amount of money. Oh my god!'” He further joked: "And even though we have a disagreement, every time I get a death threat, I still listen to ‘Many Men.'”
Zohran Mamdani Victory Speech
Mamdani defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as well as Curtis Sliwa in the race. He kicked off his victory speech by quoting Eugene Debs, one of the most influential American socialists in history. “I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity," he said.
Mamdani went on to reiterate his plans for free buses, universal childcare, city-owned grocery stores, and a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments. He also targeted Donald Trump, warning the president that he'll have to go through all New Yorkers if he wants to come for any of the city's immigrants. “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” Mamdani said. “So hear me President Trump when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.
