A Tribute to John Singleton and the three movies that changed Hollywood.
It was April 28th 2019 that we lost a legend and on this April 28th we’re here to celebrate this icon in film who helped pave the way for black filmmakers in Hollywood along with Spike Lee, Robert Townsend, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Mario Van Peebles and Mario’s pop Melvin Van Peeples who came before them. John was born John Daniel Singleton on January 6, 1968 in Los Angeles, the son of Shelia Ward-Johnson (later Morgan), a pharmaceutical company sales executive, and Danny Singleton, a real estate agent, mortgage broker, and financial planner. In a 1993 DIRT magazine interview with Veronica Chambers, Singleton says of his childhood, “When I was growing up, comic books, video games and movies were my buffer against all the drugs, the partying and shit […] I never grew up with a whole lot of white people. I grew up in a black neighborhood.”He attended Blair High School, Pasadena City College and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He graduated from USC in 1990, and was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Singleton considered pursuing computer science, but enrolled in USC’s Filmic Writing program under Margaret Mehring. The program was designed to take students directly into the Hollywood system as proficient writer/directors. He cited the original Star Wars film as one of his strongest influences and the work of Steven Spielberg as a source of inspiration.
Though John helmed many classic movies like Higher Learning, Rosewood, Shaft, Four Brothers, 2 Fast 2 Furious and the television series Snowfall, his most iconic and best remembered films will always be Boyz In Da Hood, Poetic Justice and Baby Boy. John took his own experiences growing up in South Central LA and put it on the big screen for the world to see. For Boyz In Da Hood specifically he was the first black director to be nominated for the Best Director Academy Award as well as the youngest director period; he was 24.
His second film Poetic Justice in 1993 paired superstars Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur in a romantic comedy that showed the strong acting chops of both performers. Unfortunately this would be John and Tupac’s one and only film they worked on together, but it was a perfect collaboration that would go down to be another classic on John’s list.
2001 brought Baby Boy. The film that starred Tyrese Gibson, Taraji P. Henson, Omar Epps, Snoop Dogg and Vhing Rhames. This was supposed to be John and Tupac’s second film together but after the unfortunate loss of Tupac John found Tyrese Gibson to play lead character Jodie who is a overgrown baby in a man’s body. The deep and powerful themes as well as the outrageous comic moments has helped the film endure in popularity with its audience.
The legacy of John Singleton is a powerful and forever lasting one. His work has impacted the film industry in many ways. Gave a voice to a segment of the African American community that weren’t represented, paved the way for so many fine and celebrated African American filmmakers today. We will always remember John for his top 3 greatest films but we will also always remember him for being the dynamic, outspoken and ultimately for being the down to earth cool cat he was.
R.I.P. John, we’ll always miss you and your amazing talent.
