The Songs of the 2025 New York Mayoral Race

For decades, politicians of all stripes have wielded the sounds and aesthetics of popular musicians to connect with voters.

There was Bill Clinton and his use of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” to convey his campaign’s focus on the nation’s future. President Trump danced to the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” at his campaign rallies. Kamala Harris made Beyoncé’s “Freedom” the anthem to her presidential campaign, writing in a social media post that “freedom is what we are fighting for.”

And in New York City, Bill de Blasio embraced Lorde’s “Royals” to signal his intent to restore City Hall to a by-the-people, for-the-people form of governing after being elected mayor in 2013 to replace the billionaire Michael R. Bloomberg.

The trend continues in full force for the 2025 mayoral election in New York, where the leading candidates — Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams, who are Democrats, and the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa — all have distinct sounds to their campaigns, including pop hits, E.D.M. and rap.

“With music, the politician can tap into the emotional register of the voter,” said Dana Gorzelany-Mostak, a professor of music at Georgia College and State University.

Sometimes, a politician’s choice of a song can spark the ire of the artist, who doesn’t want to be associated with their views. Beyoncé, Rihanna, the Rolling Stones, Celine Dion and many others have opposed President Trump’s use of their music.

“But these skirmishes played into his brand as they created a disruptive, yet productive noise,” Dr. Gorzelany-Mostak said. “I would argue the cacophonous chorus of objections from artists was the true Trump soundtrack.”

Here’s a look at the soundtrack of the 2025 mayoral race:

Mayor Eric Adams

Democrat, but running as an independent

“Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys

Although Mr. Adams has not designated an official campaign song, he has made it a point to associate himself with one of the most widely recognizable, contemporary New York songs: “Empire State of Mind.” Last year, to announce changes as part of the city’s “trash revolution,” he walked out to the tune, while rolling a garbage bin, opening the lid and dropping a black trash bag in as Ms. Keys sings, “Concrete jungle where dreams are made of / There’s nothin’ you can’t do.”

“It’s the musical equivalent of putting on a Yankees hat,” said Loren Kajikawa, a professor of musicology at George Washington University.

“Empire State of Mind,” lightened by Ms. Keys’s vocals, is regularly played in Times Square and at major public events. It “is like the kind of thing you would hear at a baseball game,” Professor Kajikawa said. The mayor’s pick does not have the evident political punch of some other songs. “It’s not like choosing Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’,” the professor said, referring to another hip-hop song that became the protest anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement.

On his Instagram reels, Mr. Adams, 65, frequently uses mainstream pop songs, including “Hustlin’” by Rick Ross and “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas, which was the backdrop for a post where he boasted about reducing crime. “When do we deliver a safer NYC for you?” text in the video reads. Mr. Adams then lets the lyrics do the talking: “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday / Friday, Saturday, Saturday to Sunday.”

A representative for Mr. Adams’s campaign did not respond to interview requests.

Curtis Sliwa

Republican nominee

“Best Day of My Life” by BUNT., featuring Tom Odell

Mr. Sliwa, the 71-year-old founder of the Guardian Angels, defies easy categorization. He is known for his anti-crime crusades, but he is also a cat lover and is running on the Protect Animals line.

When he began the Guardian Angels, his crime-fighting organization, in February 1979, Rod Stewart’s “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” topped the charts. His current taste? Mr. Sliwa says he is a “devotee of electronic dance music.”

Politics is filled with “backstabbing, liars, treachery,” Mr. Sliwa recently said in an interview. His campaign song, the E.D.M. tune “Best Day of My Life” by BUNT., is a counter to that.

It’s not an inherently political song, nor does it have a particularly strong or divisive message. “It’s a mood elevator,” he said.

Mr. Sliwa, who has survived cancer and being shot, said that the song speaks to his personal life philosophy as well as his approach to his campaign. “I am very happy to be alive,” he said. “And I don’t really think about the future. When you’re in a political campaign, you have to think about your day-to-day effort.”

The candidate said he first discovered E.D.M. when he was in London and Berlin in the 1980s and ’90s, organizing patrols for the Guardian Angels. He’s held onto his passion for the genre over the decades.

On Spotify, Mr. Sliwa and his wife, Nancy Sliwa, have eight followers and two public playlists, titled “Vibes” and “Nancy & Curtis Summer Hits 🔥,” which include music by Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia.

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo

Democrat, but running as an independent

“New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel

In a warm and fuzzy Instagram moment in August, Mr. Cuomo posted a video with his daughter, Mariah Kennedy Cuomo, showing the two of them sitting side by side and debating which campaign song they should choose. Ms. Kennedy Cuomo tosses out “Empire State of Mind,” but Mr. Cuomo said that “a lot of people have used that one.”

His daughter then suggests Billy Joel, to which the former governor said, “end of conversation,” adding that, “He is the man, quintessential New Yorker.” Ms. Kennedy Cuomo then floats Taylor Swift’s “Welcome to New York,” which Mr. Cuomo — after saying he was flexible and open to another choice — shut down.

“Very nice,” said Mr. Cuomo, 67. “But I’m not that open.”

“This candid moment of father-daughter bonding and quasi-democratic compromise might offer a respectable counterpoint to the scandals of Cuomo’s past,” Dr. Gorzelany-Mostak said. In 2021, Mr. Cuomo resigned as governor following a slew of sexual harassment allegations that he denied.

A representative for Mr. Cuomo’s campaign confirmed that the former governor and his daughter later landed on Mr. Joel’s “New York State of Mind” as his official campaign song — even though “New York Groove,” by the former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, is played at many of his events.

Mr. Joel and Mr. Cuomo have a longstanding friendship, with numerous past appearances together, including at Madison Square Garden. At a 2013 birthday fund-raising event for Mr. Cuomo, Mr. Joel performed a parody song titled “Albany” (“Find a bunch of millionaires with lots of cash to burn / And make sure all your sex tapes hide your face”). Mr. Cuomo is also the godfather to two of Mr. Joel’s daughters.

“Cuomo is the establishment candidate,” Professor Kajikawa said. “He’s trying to cast himself as the safe choice.” The choices presented in his video “are totally unobjectionable and sort of obvious, tracking with his identity as kind of the safe candidate,” he said.

Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani

Democratic nominee; a democratic socialist

“Loading” by Olamide

Unlike the other candidates, Mr. Mamdani has leaned into song choices that speak to the issues his campaign is aimed at addressing.

When The New York Times asked him about his song of the summer, Mr. Mamdani chose “Funds” by the Nigerian artist Davido. “I picked this song because New Yorkers need funds, especially in the most expensive city in the United States of America,” he said.

And in a Pitchfork interview about the music defining his campaign, Mr. Mamdani spoke about Lil Wayne’s “Right Above It” and Blaketheman1000’s “CitiBike,” a song that he views as connected to his promise for free buses. “A major initiative we’ve been leading since the beginning of this campaign is making the slowest buses in the country fast and free, and getting around quickly is also at the core of that song, when Blake speaks about trading in the blue for the white bike,” he said.

Mr. Mamdani, 33, also has his own rap career from the not-so-distant past: Appearing as Mr. Cardamom, he released a music video for “Nani,” a song about his grandmother, in 2019.

He has not used a signature song on the campaign trail. At a rally in Brooklyn in May, he walked out to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” At a recent appearance with Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, the pair took the stage to “Everyday People.”

For his campaign song, Mr. Mamdani told The Times over email that he selected “Loading” by Olamide because “our fight for working people is forever loading, loading, loading.”