About Author
John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 – April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing Boyz n the Hood (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming, at age 24, the first African American and youngest person to have ever been nominated for that award.Singleton went on to write and direct other films, such as the romantic drama Poetic Justice (1993), the socially conscious drama Higher Learning (1995), the historical drama Rosewood (1997), the crime film Shaft (2000), the coming-of-age drama Baby Boy (2001) and the action films 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), and Four Brothers (2005). In television, he co-created the television crime drama Snowfall and directed episodes of shows such as Empire, Rebel and the fifth episode of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special for the latter.
One of the most successful and groundbreaking directors in African-American cinema, Singleton and his films represented the African-American experience in urban populations, focusing on themes such as black masculinity, trauma, racism and identity. Singleton frequently cast rappers and musicians, such as Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, Janet Jackson, Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, Tyrese Gibson, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris and André 3000 in prominent roles.
