Sample Beatz Albums Hogg Style Records, Inc. is coming out with a Royalty Free Rap Instrumental CD, Vol.1 in the near future so stay tuned for the release date comming soon to www.hoggstylerecords.com Group Members Bostyon Johnson and a team of dedicated rap, hip hop, r&b producers, sound engineers, web developers that together have manifested hoggstylerecords.com Record Production: Critics of hip-hop complain about A-list artists who'd rather "shuck and jive" than try to inspire and uplift listeners. The commentators point to the heyday of the civil rights and black power movements in the late 1960s and early '70s, when popular artists such as Sly and the Family Stone, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, James Brown and the Jackson 5 fearlessly weighed in on issues and recorded songs reflecting the social climate and politically charged sentiments of the black community. Whether it was the Black Arts Movement, led by spoken-word artists such as Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez and Ishmeal Reed, or the Last Poets, Harry Belafonte and Gil Scott-Heron, there is no denying that the predecessors of hip-hop played a galvanizing role in particular causes. Not only did they provide searing and inspiring soundtracks for these movements, but they also gave voice to perspectives those in power would have preferred to ignore. Thirty years later, a number of compilation albums - including "Talk to Me" and "Black Power - Music of a Revolution" - are here to remind us of how cultural expression was used as a social weapon. Today's rap critics acknowledge there are still political artists, including Mos Def, Talib Kweli, dead prez and Public Enemy, but don't rank them as high as Gaye or Sly Stone, whose music was always heard on the radio. Rarely do we hear, much less see, today's political artists on mainstream outlets. If music from the black community was once a tool for liberation, it could be argued the music is now just another tool of oppression, because many highly visible artists remain silent or create big distractions from the important community issues. For example, during the past month we've been subjected to endless discussion about whether 50 Cent's new album would outsell Kanye West's, while the focus should have been on the case of the Jena Six - six black high school students arrested in Jena, La., for allegedly beating a white student. At one point, the charges they faced could have sent them to prison for 50 years. Even now, they still face assault charges that carry terms up to 20 years in prison. Much of the criticism of that period is similar to the arguments raised against today's popular artists. That was apparent last week, when I visited Jena to support the Jena Six. An estimated 60,000 people showed up in the town of 3,000, the overwhelming majority from the hip-hop generation. 50 Cent vowed that, if his CD didn't outsell Kanye West's, he'd retire. Well, if he and others don't get in step with their audience on important issues, they'll have no choice but to hang up the microphone, because no one will be paying attention. Bostyon Johnson, President/CEO