Editing John Singleton (section)

===1990s: Early career and breakthrough===
In 1991, Singleton made his feature film debut with ''[[Boyz n the Hood]]'', a coming-of-age crime drama about three childhood friends growing up in the crime-ridden neighborhood of South Central LA. Starring [[Cuba Gooding Jr.]], [[Ice Cube]], [[Nia Long]], [[Morris Chestnut]], [[Angela Bassett]], [[Regina King]], and [[Laurence Fishburne]], the film was both a critical and commercial success. It debuted at the [[Cannes Film Festival]]. For his efforts, Singleton received Academy Award nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] and [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]].<ref name="PickfordAward">{{cite web |title=Mary Pickford Foundation Alumni Award |url=http://cinema.usc.edu/alumni/pickford-award.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826032620/http://cinema.usc.edu/alumni/pickford-award.htm |archive-date=August 26, 2009 |publisher=USC Cinema}}</ref> At age 24, he became the [[List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees#Youngest nominees|youngest person ever nominated for Best Director]] and the [[List of black Academy Award winners and nominees#Best Director|first African-American]] to be nominated for the award. In 2002, the United States [[Library of Congress]] deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/film/titles.html|title=Films Selected to The National Film Registry, Library of Congress 1989–2008|access-date=July 17, 2009|publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref>

In 1992, following the success of ''Boyz n the Hood'', Singleton went on to direct VFX-driven "[[Remember the Time]]" music video for [[Michael Jackson]], which featured [[Eddie Murphy]], [[Iman (model)|Iman]], and [[Magic Johnson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/04/arts/review-video-michael-jackson-s-costly-new-promotional-clip.html?pagewanted=1|title=Review/Video; Michael Jackson's Costly New Promotional Clip|last=Parales|first=Jon|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 4, 1992|access-date=February 11, 2010}}</ref> The song and the music video were well-received and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles as well as the Mainstream Top 40 chart. It is certified 3× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Internationally, the song was a Top 10 hit in nine countries, peaking at No.1 in New Zealand, at No.2 in Spain and No.3 in the United Kingdom.

In 1993, Singleton wrote and directed his second film, ''[[Poetic Justice (film)|Poetic Justice]]'', a romantic drama about a young African-American woman named Justice (played by [[Janet Jackson]], in her film debut) who writes poetry to deal with the loss of her boyfriend to gun violence but soon encounters a postal worker (played by [[Tupac Shakur]]), who helps her overcome depression. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but earned Jackson Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song for "Again", which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The film has developed a cult following, especially for the chemistry between Jackson and Shakur and is now considered as one of Singleton's most enduring films.

In 1995, Singleton wrote and directed ''[[Higher Learning]]'', a socially conscious drama about the intense racial and social tension in a university campus. Like ''Poetic Justice'', the film received mixed reviews.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} Of his work with some of the 1990s' most visible rappers, Singleton states, <blockquote>"I come from the same place as rappers. It's cool because it's just another form of communication. I have the same sensibilities as rappers. I'm not bourgeois and everything, thinking I'm better than folks. I see myself as the first filmmaker from the hip-hop generation. I've grown up with hip-hop music. The films I make have a hip-hop aesthetic. It may not have rap in it, but there's a whole culture and politics that go with the music. It's young, black culture-that's what I deal with in my films."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chambers|first1=Veronica|date=1993|title=Singleton|url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt7489q3mv/|journal=DIRT Magazine|issue=5|page=31|via=Online Archive of California; University of California, Los Angeles Library Special Collections}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1997, following the mixed reception of ''Poetic Justice'' and ''Higher Learning'', Singleton's fourth film, ''[[Rosewood (film)|Rosewood]]'', a historical drama based on racial violence during the 1923 [[Rosewood massacre]] in Florida, received generally positive reviews and was entered into the [[47th Berlin International Film Festival]], where it was nominated for the Golden Bear.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1997/02_programm_1997/02_Programm_1997.html |title=Berlinale: 1997 Programme |access-date=January 12, 2012 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref>