To help promote their still-untitled EP project, Raze and Logic (better known as the emcee of hip-hop duo The Hollowz) have released an official music video for their single "Thinking Out Loud."

The intimate video, shot by Ku Mays, perfectly captures the essence of the Raze-produced song as the emcees talk about their inner-most thoughts.

Everybody has thoughts that constantly race through their mind, so this song is easily relatable to the public. The guitar and co-production of Mike Carpenter is what pushes this track over the edge from being just a "think piece" to a true composition.

The song "Thinking Out Loud" can also be enjoyed and downloaded for free here.

In advance of their performance at Summerfest, duo AUTOMatic has released a new single from an upcoming album called "The HBs" that features singing by Sarah Fierek and spoken word by Ms. Cream.

The song is a smooth and relatable track about the ills of heartbreak.

The song is available for free download courtesy of Brussels, Belgium site/radio station Laid Back Radio, but you can stream it here first.

In comparison to last year, Summerfest has gone light on hip-hop, deciding to go with more soulful or groove-based artists.

Groups like Growing Nation and Fresh Cut Collective are hybrid groups that use elements of hip-hop, soul, rock and R&B in their music. Classicist hip-hop group AUTOMatic also trends toward a more soulful and retro sound. Though they aren't hip-hop artists, Cincere and Kings Go Forth also bring to Summerfest a blend of lighter R&B sounds that are more fusion-based.

The only artist with any remote amount of edge is Milwaukee's hip-hop golden child Prophetic, though his style is also far smoother than his other Umbrella Music Group collaborators.

Rounding out the local hip-hop experience at Summerfest are the sounds of two of Milwaukee's most respected DJs, Kid Cut Up and DJ Madhatter.

Summerfest, which got a reputation as being a music festival that was more like an inflated state fair, has done a lot this year to make the sounds younger and more progressive in regards to headliners. Cultural icon Kanye West was nabbed for a Marcus Amphitheater spot and the much buzzed-about Wiz Khalifa is headlining the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse.

Of course the conservative radio show hosts have been having a field day with the Kanye booking, just as they did with Common delivering poetry at The White House.

So, when looking over the list of hip-hop artists performing, did Summerfest go light because of the weight Kanye and Wiz bring? Could they be using these bookings, along with some prayers that nothing goes wrong, as a way to open up the public's mind about hip-hop at Summerfest?

As fun as it is to see Public Enemy and Cypress Hill – who played last year – and as fun as it will be to see De La Soul this year, as a fan of hip-hop in general it is nice to see progressive bookings like Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa because they're culturally relevant right now.

Hopefully nothing goes wrong and this trend can continue next year, with a few more culturall…

I think that True Skool is a fantastic organization with a great goal. They want to focus the youth – with a good portion of those youth being considered "at risk" – and their sometimes misguided energy into positive programs that will benefit them in the long run.

Taggers can learn about legal graffiti art and other mediums of painting to help foster growth in skills that could be used down the road for graphic design, or simply will help them to realize a better release for their positive and negative energy so they don't end up in the juvenile detention system.

True Skool offers programs and opportunities for kids interested in all the aspects of hip-hop culture, including classes on breakdancing, DJing, music production and MCing.

The non-profit organization also gets its kids out into the community to do clean ups and to paint over tags and other illegal graffiti, teaching the youth to care about their neighborhoods.

Each summer, True Skool hosts a large summer party to help fundraise for their summer programs. The party typically has live art, music and breakdancing, and this year is no different.

On Friday, June 24 at the Wherehouse, True Skool is throwing "House Party 2011."

The DJ lineup for the evening, which kicks off at 8 p.m., is DJ Madhatter, Kid Cut Up, DJ Bizzon, DJ JDL and True Skool's resident youth DJ, DJ Kiki.

The live artist lineup is Zen of Emphatic Concepts – Graffiti, Eli Vallejo – Airbrush, Jasmine Barmore – Mixed Medium/Acrylic and Poker – Graffiti.

The breakdancers performing will be The Motion Disorderz Crew, Gravity Benders and Aaron Ferguson.

The live music performers will be Adi Armour, Raze, The Hollowz, Automatic, Relative Theory, Taste Emcees, Trutanium and Intrinsic Behavior.

If you are even remotely interested in the hip-hop culture, this is the event you need to be at this weekend. If you think Alderman Bob Donovan's unwarranted, angry tirade against True Skool last summer was inappropriate, show him by goin…