*Legendary celebrity photographer Johnny Nunez has uniquely documented hip-hop culture. He has been on private jets and in the rooms with everyone from Jay Z to Diddy and has intimately shot Nas, Beyonce, Megan Thee Stallion, TI, Drake, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, and Naomi Campbell among others.
For over 25 years, this iconic photographer has been an integral part of hip-hop culture. He broke down another barrier when he became the first Afro/Latino photographer to have his photos displayed by the Recording Academy at the Grammys where he was also honored. He has been the personal photographer for Nas who lionized him in song rapping, “Johnny has all the photos.”
“My most iconic photo is Jay-Z toasting with Nas, about 20-something years ago after the memorial of the passing of Biggie Smalls,” Johnny shares with iHeart radio personality and EURweb Spotlight host Jazmyn ‘Jaz’ Summers.
“That image stands in the home of a famous DJ named DJ Khaled. That’s one of my most prized possessions because I call that the Holy Trinity of hip hop. You have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jay-Z calls himself Jehovah. Nas calls himself God’s son. And because Biggie had passed away on Jay-Z’s shirt, in the photo, it says Notorious B I G. So that’s the Holy Spirit. For me that’s the trinity of hip hop. ”
Recently Johnny and his family of four suffered a dangerous rat infestation on the New York City block where he lives . His personal experience and the danger that rats pose to the city, particularly for the poor and people of color, prompted him to partner with the company Infinity Shields and founders Jim and Tyler Howard, a father and son team along with Erik Dube and Haitian American businessman Palmery Desir to tackle New York’s rat problem and become a rat attack fighter.
In New York City, cases of leptospirosis—a bacterial infection that can lead to kidney and liver failure and is predominantly transmitted in rat urine—are on the rise. In 2021, 14 New Yorkers were diagnosed with the disease and one died of it—far more cases than in any previous year.
According to New York’s Mayor, Eric Adams, 2 million rats call New York City home.
Even the mayor was fined because they found rats in one of the properties that he owned. In 2009, the federal courts got involved and the city was supposed to reduce the rat population in the federal housing projects by 50% in three years.
It did not happen.
People are still being impacted by these rats. Now the city has appointed a rat czar, Kathleen Corradi.
Johnny recounts to EURweb how he knows about the rat problem firsthand.
“We lived underneath the stairwell in a master duplex with a backyard, a really beautiful apartment. And underneath the stairwell, there was a slowly growing stench. I cleaned out the stairwell and took everything out, and just as I was moving this one box, a rat bigger than a kitten jumped out . They had made their nest there. Oh my God, maybe 20 to 40 rats just ran out . So I sprayed Infinity Shield on the entryways. Fast forward about a week later, I smell this horrible scent coming from there and nothing is moving. I see the entire box with at least 200 rats, all dazed, confused, and dying. I recorded it. So I have that on video. I became a believer and I said to myself, if I could excel in the rap game, I could also excel in the rat game and that’s when I decided to partner with Infinity Shields. Not only can I attest that it works, we used it for our entire block and it had those rats running.”
Jim Howard, the founder with his son Tyler of the Florida based company says they discovered its power by accident.
“We started the product as an odor eliminator back in 2012. Our first client was a waste company in South Florida. And they had us come in and spray the area and they said, well, how long does it take to work? And we were like on contact and they were like, there’s no way. They tested it by throwing a smelly pizza box down. We sprayed it and they were shocked. There was no odor. We were then approved by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEA). The DEA asked us to eliminate the odor at a recycling center that was in violation of environmental regulations because of the putrid smell. Now, it was a tough job because the rats inside this transfer recycling station were epic. They were just rolling through the trash and the DEA told us ‘You can’t go in there at nine o’clock at night because the rats will physically attack you.’ It was literally a rat party. They said we had to do all our work during the day.”
“So we came through with our odor eliminating misting system and to our surprise, within a couple of days I look at Tyler and I go, there’s no rats. And he was like, yep. And we tried to find a rat. But we couldn’t find any We were scratching our heads. Long story short, our next contract was to eliminate rats.”
“Right now, we’re in talks with the mayor’s office,” Johnny says, “we could change New York one block at a time. And I literally mean one block at a time. The other day we sprayed an area in Manhattan and the locals, thought I was crazy for bringing these guys in from Florida (Infinity Shields). And after they sprayed the area, I became a hero on the block. They were like, yo, thank you very much.”
Erik emphasizes the product’s safety: “We’ve actually had it tested through the EPA and it doesn’t harm animals like bees and spiders. Actually, we had a bunch of bees in a container. They brought us in, we sprayed it. And zero mortality. It’s 7.0 pH balance. So you could actually drink it and not have any issues. But it’s really important to know that we’re not going to be drinking it,” he laughs. “You won’t be ordering it up in your favorite bar but if they use it, your favorite bar won’t have any rats.”
Johnny adds, “It’s best if civic associations, businesses and neighborhoods get together and use it for entire blocks. One rat free block at a time.”
The team also created an odor-eliminating product for cannabis enthusiasts.
“It’s called The Blast and you could spray this on your clothes. It doesn’t stain. You wouldn’t even know anything was sprayed on you. The scent goes away immediately,” states Johnny.
Jim and Johnny say it’s their team’s love for the community that drives them.
“I grew up in Bayside, Queens and we’re just going to take it one bite at a time and try to help everybody that we can up here to get rid of this dangerous rat problem,” shares Jim.
Johnny has formed protectsusa.com for people and organizations to get the product easily and quickly.
Check out the video immediately above to hear some more rat horror stories and the remarkable discovery of the weapon that can eliminate them.
Article and interview by iHeart radio personality and EURweb.com Spotlight host Jazmyn Summers. Please don’t forget to subscribe to Jazmyn Summers’ youtube. Follow her @jaztalk1 on Instagram and Facebook. She is no longer using Twitter due to the increased racism on the site which she believes is a result of Elon Musk’s policies.
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