On Feb. 20, 1992, John Singleton made history as the first African-American to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Director for his film Boyz in the Hood. At the age of 24, he was also the youngest to receive the honor.

Singleton's movie told the story of youth growing up in Compton, Los Angeles. He was praised for his in-depth portrayal of the characters and the accuracy of the adversity they faced growing up in the neighborhood, such as gun violence.

Singleton grew up in South Central Los Angeles and graduated from film school at the University of Southern California. He created Boyz in the Hood shortly after. The cast of the film were many famous actors and actresses of today, including Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Morris Chestnut, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Nia Long.

Singleton went on to direct other popular films including Poetic Justice (1993), Higher Learning (1995), Shaft (2000), Rosewood (1997), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and released Hustle & Flow (2005) through his production company New Deal Entertainment.

On April 28, 2019, Singleton passed away as the result of a stroke. His health troubles began after he returned from Costa Rica and began experiencing issues with his legs. He reportedly checked himself into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where he suffered the stroke in his hospital room. He was 51.