How Punjabi Canadian rapper Babbulicious ended up performing at Zohran Mamdani's mayoral inauguration

On Jan. 1, history was made in New York City, and Punjabi Canadian rapper Babbulicous played a significant role. 

Zohran Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim and Indian Ugandan mayor, was sworn in on New Year’s Day. He is New York City's 112th mayor. 

Babbulicious, a.k.a. Babbu Beard, closed out the ceremony with a reworked rendition of his 2022 song Gaddi Red Challenger. In the three years since its release, it has garnered almost 30 million Spotify streams and 14 million views on YouTube. 

In a behind-the-scenes video the Brampton, Ont. rapper and comedian posted to his Instagram, he expressed his anxiety and excitement at being a part of the inauguration: “I was cold and I was nervous, but Zohran’s speech gave me the fire.” 

Gaddi Red Challenger is a boastful, confidence-boosting track with lyrics that translate to: “Any city I go to/ Everyone shows me respect.” Beard worked with producer J Statik on the song, who has also produced, mixed and mastered for Karan Aujla, Diljit Dosanjh and the late Sidhu Moose Wala. 

The song’s mix of bhangra and hip hop, and some tongue-in-cheek humour, caught the attention of Mamdani’s team.  

In an interview with BBC Asian Network, Beard said that his inclusion in the inauguration all started with an Instagram DM that said, “There’s a spot that opened up and we would love to have you perform.”

He immediately began reworking the song to give it a bit more energy, and then decided to change the introduction to be more topical, changing the lyric from “Babbulicious! J Statik, what up!” to “New York, Zohran Mamdani!” 

Beard also tweaked the chorus, adding in the names of New York City’s five boroughs. 

He shared in the same interview that he received many positive reactions to his performance: “I think people feel really represented or seen, especially seeing two South Asians, one a mayor and then me performing at a his event… I think it legitimizes us a bit, like Punjabis or Sikhs or South Asians being on a global stage.”