Rhiannon Ingle
Zohran Mamdani shared his hilarious reaction to 50 Cent's criticism before his New York City mayoral election win on Tuesday (4 November).
The 34-year-old democratic socialist, who is set to become the city’s most liberal mayor in generations, beat out the likes of Democrat former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, leaving many New Yorkers thrilled.
However, it's clear that not everyone is as happy about Mamdai's historical win - specifically MAGA heads, Republicans, the ultra-rich and, of course, US President Donald Trump.
The 79-year-old Republican's disdain for the popular politician culminated in him threatening to withhold funding from the city if Mamdani were to be elected.
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And it seems that 50-year-old 'In Da Club' rapper 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, held similar views after taking to social media to hit out over the election result.
He took to Instagram on Wednesday (5 November) to share an image, which appears to be AI-generated, depicting a gravestone in a cemetery reading 'RIP NYC'.
In text underneath, the tombstone engraving added: "Founded in 1624, Died 2025."
The rapper captioned the image: "R.I.P NYC [person shrugging emoji] @50centaction."
Mind you, 50 Cent is a very wealthy individual - a privilege he's able to enjoy while much of the city, and wider country, continues to struggle with rising rent, food price surges and a general cost of living crisis.
Back in June, he also suggested that he'd pay for Mamdani to leave the city.
"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!" 50 Cent declared.
Mamdani responded to the statement in quite the iconic fashion, saying on The Beat with Ari Melber: "He’s a critic! 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 continued to joke: "Even though we have a disagreement on tax policy, every time I get a death threat, I still listen to 'Many Men'."
Explaining his tax policy, Mamdani added: "I continue to think that having the top one percent in New York City who are making more than one million dollars a year, having them pay two per cent more for an economic agenda that would transform every New Yorker's life, including their own, is something that is worthwhile.
"The reason I say including their own is when you see a city like ours that is underfunding its city agencies, that is pulling back on the most basic things like library services and trash cans, everybody feels the effects of that.
"And my job, as somebody who cares deeply about the public sector, is to ensure we are delivering public excellence."