Zachary Battiest
| Zachary Battiest | |
|---|---|
| File:Zachary Battiest.jpgZachary Battiest.jpg | |
| Born | Hollywood, Florida |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Seminole Tribe of Florida |
| 💼 Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Notable work | The Storm |
Zachary Battiest, better known by his stage name “DOC Native” is a Native American rapper-songwriter and producer from Hollywood, Florida, and a tribal member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
In 2017, DOC along with the newly formed Native American group MAG7 consisting of artists: Emcee One, Drezus, Supaman, Spencer Battiest, PJ Vegas and Natalia MyVerse won the MTV VMA award for “Best Fight Against the System” for their collaborative single entitled “Stand Up/Stand N Rock #NoDAPL,” produced by Taboo of Black-Eyed Peas. The song is considered a song of praise for the activism during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Other contributing vocalists and musicians include Tony Duncan, Kahara Hodges, Gerald Danforth, and Perry Cheevers.[1][2]
In 2011, DOC’s music release “The Storm” which he co-wrote and performs with his brother Spencer Battiest garnered his first Best Music Video win at the American Indian Film Institute held in San Francisco, California. The song was written as a tribute to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and homage to his parents, grandparents and tribal leaders. The song was later produced into a music video that was directed by Kiowa/Choctaw filmmaker Steven Paul Judd as part of the tribe’s summer youth program provided by the Seminole tribe inviting students to participate in film productions. Additionally, it was nominated for three Native American Music Awards (NAMMY's): "Best Rap/Hip Hop Recording," "Debut Artist of the Year," "Song/Single of the Year" and continues to be showcased internationally at all Hard Rock Restaurants and various events[3][4]
Early life[edit]
Zachary aka DOC Native was born in Hollywood, Florida to June Lena Baker Battiest (Seminole) and Henry Lee Battiest, Jr (Choctaw). Zachary grew up between Broken Bow, Oklahoma and the Hollywood Seminole Indian Reservation. He graduated from Hollywood Christian School.
Performing at the age of 6, his father, who was a worship leader and head of their local church, the Independent Bible Baptist Church in Hollywood, Florida taught him and his younger brother Spencer to sing gospel hymns that branched out to performing at their local church and family gatherings. Thereafter, Zachary branched out to perform for school plays such as landing the lead in Prodigal Son.
While attending vacation bible school at age 11, he received his first set of drums, which he enjoyed as he was not pressured to be the center of attention on stage. Not pressured with all eyes on him allowed him to enjoy and independently grow playing drums. While playing drums for the church, he was given the incentive that the more he improved he would receive a new drum kit. When he received his new drum set he knew there was more responsibilities. Coming for a musical family, his grandfather, mother, and father were all gospel singers. Each summer their church band would tour and play at Indian churches until he was 17yrs old.
At 15yrs old, his cousin and uncle got him interested in hip-hop music. He and his cousin would record in local flea in South Florida where the hip-hop culture was growing. With his new interest in the music of hip-hop he became friends with rappers from Miami that taught him how to break down16-bars, flow and delivery to hone his craft. From this mentorship, along with Curtis Lema he started crafting his own music.
His musical influences have been Ludacris, Notorious BIG, Tupac, DMX and JayZ. One of his earlier mentors was Kenny Brown, a member of Liberty City who wrote and performs the popular NBA Miami Heat theme song.
As he reached his 20s, Zachary got on stage and would run music for his younger brother Spencer Battiest while he performed. In addition, he would work and support his brother as an artist and helped him with songwriting and mixing of his musical performances.
Music[edit]
One evening in 2011, while sharing music mixes with his brother, Spencer, he and his brother would collaborate and write a historical, cultural song about their tribe. As recalled by Zachary, while they were in the studio, the chords came together and they started writing lyrics that would evolved into the contemporary tribal anthem “The Storm” that encapsulates the history of tribal stories recalled from their grandmother and Chief James Billie shared with the brothers. He and his brother completed the song in one night, which also helped him also become known as an individual artist.
The song is considered a tribal anthem of the survival of the Seminoles. The song was later produced into a music video that was directed by Kiowa/Choctaw filmmaker Steven Paul Judd as part of the tribe’s summer youth program provided by the Seminole tribe inviting students to participate in film productions. The music video was filmed entirely on the Seminole Reservation in Florida highlighting historical tribal land, ancestry and culture. The song was written as a tribute to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and homage to his parents, grandparents and tribal leaders. The video garnered their first award for "Best Music Video" at the 36th Annual American Indian Film Festival held in San Francisco, California, and was an official selection at ImagineNATIVE – Film & Media Arts Festival held in Toronto, Canada, and the Santa Fe Native Cinema showcase sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indians and SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market where it won their second "Best Music Video award. Additionally, it was nominated for three Native American Music Awards (NAMMY's): "Best Rap/Hip Hop Recording," "Debut Artist of the Year," "Song/Single of the Year" and continues to be showcased internationally at all Hard Rock Restaurants and various events.
After the success of The Storm, both he and his brother branched off and started working on solo careers, but manage to perform again in future concerts.
In the summer of 2015, Zachary and his brother performed at the annual Hard Rock Rising Barcelona Global musical festival opening up for noble artists: Robbie Williams, Kings of Leon, Juanes, Lenny Kravitz, Avicii and Steve Angello. The weekend-long event took place at the Platja del Forum (Parc de la Pau, s/n. Sant Adria de Besos, Barcelona) on July 24 and 25, 2015.
Zachary is no stranger to hard work, while staying busy running his Midnight Studio, he continued to produce some of the hottest up and coming artists of South Florida and Los Angeles. From his conversation with friend and mentor Jay Garland, he convinces Zachary of his untapped talent and pursued and pursue a solo career.
Zachary selected the stage name “DOC Native” which stems from a nickname his grandmother called his grandfather “Doc” he added “Native” to shed light on his Native American culture so he would stand out as a Native American rapper.
In the spring of 2019, DOC Native released his first EP – self-entitled with four songs about his personal struggles. Widely known as a music producer and writer he was comfortable behind the scene working for various artists, but now with an EP release he was pushed to the spotlight where he had to face his vulnerability of sharing himself through his music which you can definitely hear in the song These Scars. Other songs on his EP are: Fly Away, Dreamin’ and Let me See all available on Apple, Amazon, and Spotify.
After the successful collaboration with other native artists and winning at the MTV Music Awards with Taboo, the ensemble group entitled MAG7 once again came together to perform One World a song about culture unity. The music video was filmed entirely on the Pechanga reservation.
His latest performances have been at the 1st annual celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day in Los Angeles, and the Grand opening of Guitar Hotel in Hollywood as being one of the first artists to open up the Hardrock LIVE.
Personal[edit]
Zachary is single father of two sons age 2 and 9 he works to be a strong positive mentor to his boys.
Zachary has 4 sisters and 2 brothers – his younger brother is performance artist Spencer Battiest who he continues to collaborates with.
References[edit]
- ↑ Crandell, Ben (25 August 2017). "Native sons offer a lesson in unity at VMAs". Tribune Publishing. South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ↑ Bidney, Beverly. "Battiest Brothers Reflect On VMA Win". Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Seminole Tribune. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ↑ Bidney, Beverly (2014-05-29). "Spencer Battiest signs with Hard Rock Records". The Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Seminole Tribune. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ↑ "VIDEO: Doc feat. Spencer Battiest – "The Storm"". Revolutions Per Minute. MBM Digital. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
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