When New York City’s mayor starts name-dropping Charly Black at a press conference and talking about “whining,” you know something different is happening at City Hall.
Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old who became New York’s 112th mayor earlier this year, showed up to a Brooklyn Museum balcony overlooking Eastern Parkway last Friday with a security announcement and, apparently, genuine dancehall credentials.
Mamdani is already a lot of firsts. He is the youngest NYC mayor since 1892, the first Muslim-American to hold the office, and the first of South Asian descent, but he may also be the first certified dancehall fan and former rapper to ever occupy Gracie Mansion. That combination is hard to ignore.
The press conference was officially about a new security plan from the mayor’s Office of Community Safety for this year’s Labor Day festivities, including J’ouvert and the West Indian American Day Parade.
But Mamdani made clear this was personal, not just political. “The aromas of jerk chicken, curry goat, oxtail and saltfish will float up and down the roadway,” he said. “It will vibrate with the sounds of soca, calypso, reggae, hopefully Charly Black, and the rhythms of New Yorkers’ feet as they whine and chill.”
That line landed. It is genuinely rare to hear any elected official in North America casually reference a dancehall artist mid-speech, let alone one at the level of a major city mayor.
Flanked by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Renita Francois, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and West Indian American Day Carnival Association President Roger Archibald, Mamdani was not performing enthusiasm for the cameras. He has been showing up to this parade for years.
Last Labor Day, he was riding floats through Brooklyn as an assemblyman from Astoria, Queens, grooving alongside Caribbean New Yorkers while his rivals in the mayoral race were nowhere near Eastern Parkway.
His genuine connection to the community was one of the things that set him apart during the campaign, and it clearly did not disappear once he won.
In late August, Mamdani hosted a Caribbean culture celebration at Gracie Mansion, complete with patties and jerk chicken. He walked to the podium to Sean Paul’s “Temperature” while wearing a West Indies cricket team World Cup jersey under his suit jacket.
He also told the crowd that Sean Paul’s signature ad-lib “Sean Da Paul” was actually a subliminal nod to Guyanese cricket legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul, which is exactly the kind of deep-cut knowledge that you either have or you do not.
After the press conference, Mamdani sat down with Boomshots and rattled off his top five reggae and dancehall tracks without hesitation. Having grown up in Uganda, he made sure to mix in some African flavor alongside the Caribbean selections.
His list landed on Charly Black’s “Gal Yuh a Party Animal,” Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam,” Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” Skales’s “Shake Body,” and Konshens’s “Bruk Off Yuh Back.
The Konshens pick in particular is worth paying attention to. “Bruk Off Yuh Back” is not a safe, crowd-pleasing choice designed to signal Caribbean solidarity without actually knowing the music.
It is a proper dancehall selection from someone who has clearly spent time with the genre beyond its most mainstream moments. Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam” is a classic that crosses generations, and the Skales inclusion shows he is not limiting his playlist to Jamaica alone.
Mamdani told the crowd at the Gracie Mansion event that he was proud to march again this year, this time as mayor, after joining the parade last year as an assemblyman. “I was fortunate to have been a part of this parade last year to share in the remarkable spirit and powerful energy that defines our city’s Caribbean community,” he said.
The West Indian American Day Parade draws massive crowds to Eastern Parkway every Labor Day, and Mamdani will be at the front of it this year with a very different title next to his name.
J’ouvert kicks off before sunrise on Monday, and Eastern Parkway will be transformed by the time the main parade gets moving. Whether the mayor actually gets to hear any Charly Black from a float this year is still an open question.
