A wide multicultural swath of New Yorkers voted Mayor Zohran Mamdani into office two months ago. So, it made sense that the music serenading those at Mamdani's swearing-in and block party event on Thursday, Jan. 1, was a diverse, mixed playlist of tunes.
New York-based disc jockey DJ mOma served as master of musical ceremony playing welcome music ahead of the inauguration and during a seven block-long street party.
"I'm just so happy and proud to be part of it," DJ mOma said in a post on Instagram. He spun a medley of world music, soul, hip-hop, R&B, and rap – so appropriate as Mamdani nearly a decade ago was a rapper who went by Mr. Cardamom.
His set included an international selection of sounds including tracks ranging from Jennifer Lopez's 2001 song "Play" to "Thari Mummy Ne Chawe Pawno Delhi Walo" by Bharatraj Masinia, a singer from India's Rajasthan region.
Jay-Z and Stevie Wonder got multiple plays in the set. Jay-Z tracks included "Beware," a remix of the 1998 song from the British-Indian recording artist Panjabi MC, itself a remix of an original song is performed by Indian bhangra singer Labh Janjua, and, of course, "Empire State of Mind," his duet with Alicia Keys. Also in the playlist: "As" and "Another Star," from Wonder's 1976 album "Songs in the Key of Life."
