DOPE ART HERE: Creative Ancestry

Remember when finding good 📺 🎥 🎵 wasn’t a second job? 

We do.

We're your plug for Dope Art Here, served fresh monthly 😘.

PS - NO SPOILERS HERE. We got you 😏

Welcome to the Dope Art Here experience: a quick mind quencher & snack for your artistic tastes.

WE CURATE ART AS DOPE AS YOU.

This month's spotlights!

• SEEDS TAKING ROOT: Justin celebrates a student filmmaker whose confidence bloomed into a gritty British short called WATERING HOLE.
• WISDOM FROM THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS: Adrienne shares how meeting Robert Rodriguez reminded her who tf she is, and the PODCAST you can play to get the same message.
• HANGOUT COMEDY PERFECTION: Dara serves up freaky, weird ADULTS on Hulu - aka "live action Big Mouth for your twenties."
• THE RIPPLE EFFECT: Andrew traces the creative ancestry flowing through LITTLE SIMZ, from Kendrick to Lauryn Hill to the next generation she's inspiring right now.

Every time you make something real, every time you're loudly, firmly you, and your art is let loose from your insides ... you're dropping breadcrumbs for someone you'll never meet. Someone who needs to see that it's possible to be exactly who they are and still succeed, still matter, still change the world.

We don't always know how the seeds we plant by being us, doing us, creating our art, will impact the people who come after us. But there's a beautiful gift in being members of a human race with hundreds and thousands of years of collective experience - we get to draft off the work of others. We are all uniquely us AND we stand on the shoulders of giants. AND we are ourselves giants, even when we don't realize it.

This month's picks are all about that invisible mentorship, that creative ancestry that flows through every bold choice to make something real.

The lineage is real. The impact is real. Your commitment to the art of being you matters more than you know.

~ dara

FILM: WATERING HOLE (2024)

In the spirit of planting a seed: in 2023, I helped launch a UK craft film skills accelerator program through a prior job. A student recently reached out and told me that the program had instilled in her the abilities and confidence to tell a deeply important story. That the program helped anyone express themselves brought me great joy. 

The dark, gritty British short film Watering Hole follows two young women navigating a risky night out at a local pub, exposing the complex dynamics between female empowerment and exploitation. Through contrasting characters Liv, who weaponizes male attention for free drinks as revenge for past trauma, and Ana, who rejects Liv's practices, the film delves deep into the psychological tolls of feminine dangers, social performance, delicate friendships, and more. 

The film's power lies in its examination of objectification, seduction and nuanced interactions, and the constancy of male privilege. Check out this inspiring watch from a talented young filmmaker. - Justin

WATCH: WATERING HOLE (YOUTUBE)

Seeds planted, confidence blooming into fierce storytelling. But what happens when you're the one who needs the mentorship? When you meet someone whose creative DNA helped shape who you thought you could become? Adrienne got schooled by a legend...

PODCAST: LEX FRIDMAN PODCAST (2025)

A few weeks ago, I met Robert Rodriguez—writer, director, collaborator, the mind behind *Sin City*, *El Mariachi*, *Spy Kids*, *Desperado*—and in three hours, he reminded me who tf I am. He also quietly changed how I live as a creative.

But since Rideback (the event host) said what happens within those walls *stays* within those walls... I can’t write about it.

However.

Almost everything he shared privately, he’s also said publicly—on the Lex Fridman podcast. I now listen to it every morning to psych myself up and remember what’s possible.

Biggest takeaway? Dig through the ashes of your failure. That’s where the keys to your beyond-your-wildest-dreams success are buried.

I’m dreaming pretty big now. Thanks, Robert. - Adrienne

WATCH: ROBERT RODRIGUEZ ON LEX FRIDMAN PODCAST (YOUTUBE)

From receiving wisdom to seeing it play out in the wild - there's something magical about art that shows you exactly who you are while making you laugh until your stomach hurts. My pick this month does exactly that...

TELEVISION: ADULTS (2025)

“It’s like a live action Big-Mouth about your twenties.”

That’s the pitch EP Nick Kroll got from the creators of Adults. It’s an intriguing premise for the show, but if anything, it undersells what is an A+ hangout comedy that I consumed in a single go. Get ready to watch a group of friends flail their way through learning experience after learning experience all while maintaining genuine love for each other. There’s a slight Schitt’s Creek-esque vibe of no conflict for conflict’s sake, but a tale of 5 freaky little weirdos working TOGETHER against the baddies that make your 20’s hard to survive: mean teens, murderers, and, scarier yet, a GIANT PILE OF UNOPENED MAIL (tell me you can’t relate). Get thee to Hulu ASAPtually and thank me later. - Dara

WATCH: ADULTS (HULU)

Comedy that captures the beautiful mess of growing up, creators building on what came before them - and speaking of creative lineage in action, Andrew's been tracking an artist whose bars prove that giants really can be Little...

MUSIC: LITTLE SIMZ - LOTUS (2025)

“Moon waves and open seas

Quit coastin’ overseas

F**k those who don’t believe

They would never wanna admit I’m the best here

from the mere fact that I’ve got ovaries”

Ferocious bars from 8 on the aptly named “Venom”

Simz is one of my favorite musicians of the last 15 years. Her lyrical dexterity, precise + unrelenting flow paired with vulnerable introspection have earned Simz the praise of her peers as well as critics. On June 6th she released a new album LOTUS that features Yussef Dayes, Sampha and Yukumi Nagano of Little Dragon.

Nigerian Brit by way of Islington, London, Simbiatu "Simbi" Abisola Abiola Ajikawo aka Little Simz has drawn inspiration from Lauryn Hill, Busta Rhymes, John Coltrane and Kendrick Lamar.

It’s because of Kendrick Lamar that I discovered Simz. Not because of his 2015 declaration that Simz “might be the illest doing it right now.” It was because of Simz’ 2013 track Cartoon & Cereal…a cover of Kendrick’s song by (almost) the same name (a song originally intended for GKMC). I knew what Kendrick had done with that beat, and then I witnessed Simz make it her own…I was all in the way in.

Don’t let them tell you a GIANT can’t be Little.

LISTEN: LITTLE SIMZ - LOTUS (SPOTIFY | TIDAL)

From film students finding their voice to legends sharing their secrets to comedy that makes you feel less alone to bars that rewrite what's possible - the creative DNA keeps flowing, keeps connecting us across time and space.

Now I need your help: What's a book, album, or movie that completely changed how you see the world, but you never hear anyone talking about it? Hit reply or email us at yo@dopearthere.com with your hidden gem.

Hit subscribe to join us for this ride.

~ dara