“You always gotta be on time, an hour ahead of everything. You always gotta be prepared.”

PW spent time with Sigel in a New York recording studio shortly before he went away on his federal gun possession charge.

I’m caught up in the system where the blind lead the blind And this artist only speaks on the Signs of the Time. And I pop pills in Purple Rain to state my pain, They say I’m just like my father, bold and too cold.

I was never in an awkward position where I had to curb my manhood.

He paged through a book of promotional photos of himself, one of which was shot shortly after 911. It featured him holding a copy of the Bible upright in one palm while the Koran rose from the other the Twin Towers.

I ain’t the captain of the yacht, but I’m on the boat; I ain’t acting what I’m not, knowing that I don’t. You niggaz acting like you will, but I know you won’t. Man, I read between the lines of the eyes of your brows, Your handshake ain’t matchin your smile.

I don’t think there’s much a person could say about me. My gangster’s never been on trial.

I could wake up six in the morning, go downstairs and record. I learned how to use ProTools and everything. Whenever I felt it, I could record.

I can still do clothing, movies, cartoons. I’mma get mine regardless. Whether I put an album out or not, I’m still gonna see a check.

That’s what I do… Some people smoke weed, some people smoke cigarettes, some people snort coke… I pop pills, I smoke and I drink syrup, that’s my twist.

Some of the record company people, they wouldn’t let me put this out, … They said it would be too controversial. But this picture is saying ‘Look, they can stand together. Don’t have to be no fight.’

You don’t need Beanie Sigel in the building with a pre-perception that this crazy dude might do anything.

Pull down the shades on the windows of your soul, And gaze into your mind and watch the wisdom unfold.

Jadakiss is not no walk in no park. Nas is not no walk in no park. These are dudes that could have ended my career.

I assumed that everything must yield to me, that the entire universe had to flatter my whims, and that I had the right to satisfy them at will.

He pays me not merely for the rule of thumb task, which is all that men recognize, but to everything else I bring to my job in the way of industry, good intentions and cheerfulness.

If everything that existed were continually being photographed, every photograph would become meaningless.

But for Muslims, everything that they don’t have on earth is what they get in heaven. They can drink, they can have sex. All of the forbidden pleasures on earth, you can have in paradise.

Is everything a joke to you? I asked. He dabbed his tongue to his lip again. Not everything. Like what? You.

I believe in my writing.

Everything comes to him who waits, except a loaned book.

Everything became exchangeable because everything became a commodity.