John Singleton: Director of Boyz N The Hood dies at the age of 51

Academy Award-nominated director John Singleton – known for his films as Boyz N The Hood and his remake of the crime movie Shaft – died at the age of 51.

A family statement confirmed that the influential filmmaker had fallen ill at the hospital last Wednesday and had been admitted to the intensive care unit.

Born in Los Angeles, Singleton was a pioneer for African-American directors throughout the 1990s.

In 1992, he became the youngest Oscar-nominated director of Boyz N The Hood.

The success of the film also allowed Singleton to become the first African-American filmmaker to be nominated for Best Director Oscar. He also received a second nomination for the best original screenplay.

Singleton also produced 2 Fast 2 Furious in 2003.

Graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Boyz N the Hood (1991), writing at the age of 24 alongside producer Steve Nicolaides, addressed the themes of violence in inner-city neighborhoods of Los Angeles.

It was a breathtaking role for actors Angela Bassett, Nia Long and Cuba's Gooding J, who then won an Oscar for Jerry Maguire. He also marked the debut of the film for rapper Ice Cube.

Frank criticism

In addition to the remake of Shaft in 2000, Singleton has credits including Higher Learning (1995) and Poetic Justice 1993, starring Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur.

More recently, Singleton has focused on television projects, making episodes of Empire and American Crime Story, and has also acted as creator and executive producer for Snowfall, in 2017.

Lately, Singleton has accused Hollywood of trying to homogenize black cinema.

"They want blacks to be what they want, as opposed to what they are – black movies now – what's called black movies now – they're great." "But these are just products," he told the Hollywood Masters Interview series in 2014.

"They do not move the bar creatively … when you try to make it consistent, when you try to make it attractive to everyone, you do not have anything special."

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