NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio loves The Clash, reggae...and ska

New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio has, as you probably know, thrown his hat into the ring as one of the many potential Democratic 2020 presidential nominees. He stopped by CNN’s new studios to talk about his presidential run, but the end of the conversation turned to music. It turns out Beto O’Rourke is not the only punk fan running for president. Bill told the anchors his favorite band is The Clash and, in particular, recommends London Calling (“There’s many good hits on that one”). He also went on to say he loves reggae, naming Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Anchor Alisyn Camerota then asked him what he thought of ska, noting how it’s the intersection of De Blasio’s “punk aesthetic” and reggae. “I love ska,” De Blasio quickly replied, adding “Alisyn, I didn’t know you had all this to you!” to which she replied, “Oh yes, there’s a whole hidden ska happening inside me.”

Thankfully no one asked a follow-up about that hidden ska, but the other anchor, John Berman, did ask Bill about what the punk inside him is rebelling against. “I thought their music spoke of a different, better world. There’s a beautiful line, if you know Joe Strummer, who was the lead singer — ‘The future is unwritten.’ that was a message he’d often talk about and I think it’s very pertinent today. You’ve got global warming, you’ve got a huge economic inequality, tremendous concerns and yet tremendous possibilities for change…I think about the idea that change is still possible but we have to feel it in our hearts.”

Watch the interview below.