You can find virtually anything on Wikipedia, in varying degrees of accuracy. Nicolay's page was 100% accurate since it was updated and managed by his team. That was until after the release of Leave It All Behind, when it was suddenly wiped from the Internets. Any searches for "Nicolay" will refer you to a disambiguation page, which does not include any references to the Dutch producer. Virtually out of nowhere, he has been classified as a "marginal artist", according to him and his camp--a term that should be considered insulting once we take into account Nic's tenure and who hasn't been removed based on the term's broad definition.

A quick Internet search for "marginal art" yields results that refer to "ordinary art." This kind of art is characterized by that which is largely considered pedestrian. The producers of marginal art are unprofessional and its consumers lack professional expertise. It is created on the fringes of more acceptable "fine art" or "pop art". Nicolay's work has been likened, in this context, to grafitti.

The remains of Nicolay's Wikipedia page now list the reason for removal as "non-notable musician". We find it hard to believe that the site's moderators would begin policing Nicolay's page without otherwise being prompted. The fact that this happened after dropping one of the biggest records of his career opens the door wide for theorizing. Illmind's page is about to suffer the same fate. 9th Wonder's remains intact, but we suppose that's because he produced for Jay-Z, Mary J. and Destiny's Child.

Does receiving a check from a mass media organization make one a more qualified artist? It can be argued that many successful, popular producers have long ago sacrificed any artistic integrity to charge a premium for beats that are carbon copies of each other and take exactly two minutes to create.

I also suppose there's no value or relevance to be found on the site you're reading, since it's independently owned and operated and isn't an offshoot of the commercial, greedy and omnipotent MSM that informs the thoughts and opinions of so many.

Nicolay is certified. Those of us that are left behind can continue fermenting in their own bamma-juice while the creators originate and keep pushing things forward in spite of the odds.