This is an collaborate attempt to gather all Steem knowledge necessary to get around #thecut on Steemit. A process that never ends and this paper on penflip is supposed to be edited and reposted. The cut is a place for hip hop heads to meet up, share their best original art and collaborate in different ways on the Steem blockchain. The 2017 hip hop community's intention with #thecut is a hashtag that can't be owned and that no individual or group should try to set rules for how to use it. Instead we share what we want to see in #thecut respectfully, for everyone's gain.

This post is written on Penflip where the same document is hosted except everyone can propose changes to it. If you agree with the simple suggested terms of use below simply curate posts in the cut thereafter. If you have any proposed changes please join the movement and help write the next version of this black paper here on penflip, discuss it in this room specifically dedicated to the cut on the SMA Discord channel or of coarse just do it in your own way.

When should we tag our posts with #thecut?

To make this useful it has to be separated from tags like #hiphop(which most of our posts will still fall under). With community in mind we made this list of content that we think fits under the more specific tag #thecut. The post should contain at least one of these:

1. New original hip hop art by you! Exclusively on Steem or with additional content in the post directed to this community.

2. Direct messages to the community. As long as you have something that you think is of value specifically to the cut on Steem, feel free to share it! Original ways to promote other artists from the cut? Please use this tag!

3. Competitions or collaboration proposals are very welcome! We already have some heavily supported ones but it's an open playing field.

Please don't spam!

The point is for it to always be worth checking out "new post" under #thecut. If you understand that it's pretty simple, show respect to gain respect. Don't clutter this place up too much just because you found a loophole in the guidelines. There's no rules here so instead try to grasp our collective intention.

Exemplifying advise:
If you're creating original quality content you're probably not going to average more than 1-2 posts a day in #thecut. Even if you're "on fire" you probably won't go way over that.

It all depends on the support you get for everything of coarse. If we love it we love it.

How should we approach each other in #thecut?

To create an as inspiring enviroment as possible we want to gather some simple guidelines that we can all agree on.

1. Respect - The community is still new so we are still setting the standards on how to treat eachother here for the future. Let's make the cut somewhere we want to represent by being supportive and respectful. We're pretty good at understanding each other when we do our best.

2. Constructive criticism - For any Hip Hop community, or any creative community, to thrive we have to be open to give and receive constructive criticism. It's not enough to say "Yea, that was tight". When really in your head your thinking "He really overextended his bars", or "He really needs to work on his delivery". NO ONE gets better at anything in life while people placate them. Let's not do this.

3. Team work/Crews - This is HUGE. Rappers, Djs, producers, singers, etc. All of these people want to CREATE MUSIC. Sharing a common interest isn't enough, and participating in challenges every week, or every two weeks really isn't enough either. People that enjoy each other's music have to come together and pro-actively WORK TOGETHER.

Growing list of people representing #thecut in alphabetical order(Doesn't necessarily stand by any rules):

@boycharlieplays, @chiefmappster, @djlethalskillz, @geechidan, @jamesgetsit, @jtulip, @kenentertainment, @privat, @redsfallin, @seveaux, @scribblingwilly, @simgirl, @termitemusic, @voyceatlas

Update this document on penflip with small or radical changes and share it in your own post! Or just write a comment your thoughts here or write your own "black paper" all together!

This is just the beginning and these are really simple things so far. Hopefully it can be used as an example on how we can consiously and collectively stear this community anywhere we want. It's simple because we are trying to bring light to the things that everyone already want and communicate that back to everyone. Peace and love! <3