Like Toy Soldiers

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"Like Toy Soldiers"
Single by Eminem
from the album Encore
Released January 24, 2005
Format
Recorded 2004
Genre
Length 4:56
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Eminem
  • Luis Resto (add.)
Certification Gold (ARIA)
Gold (RIAA)
Eminem singles chronology
"Encore"
(2004)		 "Like Toy Soldiers"
(2005)		 "Mockingbird"
(2005)

"Like Toy Soldiers" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his fifth studio album Encore (2004). It is the fourth single and is the fifth track on the album. The song samples the chorus of Martika's 1989 single "Toy Soldiers", and features interpolations from the main title theme from the 1972 motion picture The Hot Rock.

"Like Toy Soldiers" received positive reviews from music critics, and became a commercial success worldwide. In the United States, the song peaked at number thirty-four on the Billboard Hot 100, topped the charts in the United Kingdom and peaked within the Top 10 of the charts in twelve countries, including Australia and New Zealand.

Content

"Like Toy Soldiers" tells the story of Eminem's attempts to calm a violent community of rappers. Eminem speaks openly about problems with The Source magazine and its editor Benzino, as well as the situation between 50 Cent and Ja Rule and his label Murder Inc., which Eminem felt went far beyond the Jay-Z vs. Nas feud.[1] The song finishes as Eminem offers a truce to his enemies. In addition, this song also reveals that Eminem had tried to stop Ja Rule & 50 Cent's feud, but lost it when he heard Ja Rule making fun of his daughter on a track called "Loose Change" - ("The Ja Shit, I tried to squash it, It was too late to stop it, There's a certain line you just don't cross and he crossed it, I heard him say Hailie's name in his song and I just lost it"). In the song Ja Rule says Eminem claims his then ex-wife is "a known slut" and his mother "a crackhead", and then asks him "so what's Hailie gonna be when she grows up?".[2] "Like Toy Soldiers" was later included on Eminem's compilation album Curtain Call: The Hits in 2005. Throughout his career, Eminem, at most, only alludes to Suge Knight, completing a line in this song, "my intentions were good, I went through my whole career without ever mentioning -." Styles P used the instrumental version in his song "Soldiers Song", in 2005.[1]

As a result of this song, Eminem refused to get himself involved in some of 50 Cent's later feuds, including Jadakiss, Fat Joe (both of whom he collaborated with in 2004), and The Game.

Critical reception

AllMusic highlighted the song.[3] A positive overview came from J-23: ""Like Toy Soldiers" is among his best work here, from his production (complete with Martika sample), to his gripping recount, assessment and conclusion of the Benzino and Murder Inc beefs."[4] Pitchfork was also positive: "a public hand-wringing over the feuds that Em and 50 Cent have been drawn into, the consequences of these battles, and-- most importantly-- the toll they've taken, both physically and emotionally. The martial beat is a bit heavy-handed, but it's counterbalanced by the pleasantly surprising chorus' sample of Martika's "Toy Soldiers", perhaps a nod to either Kanye's helium-vocaled samples or the 00s trend toward trance-pop covers of 80s hits."[5] NME wrote a favorable review: "Like Toy Soldiers’ is a case in point. The best track of this album, and probably any album this year, it should be appalling. It interpolates (by which we mean ‘steals’) the chorus to a long-forgotten ’80s power ballad by Martika, which would be a surefire route to disaster in anyone else’s hands. Instead, with its martial drumbeat, unashamedly vast-scale soft rock dynamics and that similarly monolithic chorus, it is perhaps hip-hop’s first genuine lighters-in-the-air stadium anthem. And yet it’s probably the most personal track on the album...as Em tries to draw a line under the various beefs he and his cohorts have been embroiled in. “Even though the battle was won/I feel like we lost it/I spent too much time on it/Honestly I’m exhausted”, he admits. If the sheer volume and widescreen sweep of ‘Like Toy Soldiers’ is a cover for this exhaustion, then it sure works."[6]

Rolling Stone described: "it's really mature, as when the Martika-sampling "Like Toy Soldiers" renounces battle rhyming and its deadly consequences."[7] USA Today noted: "A military drumbeat drives Like Toy Soldiers, in which Eminem offers an explanation for his beef with the Murder Inc. rap clique, The Source magazine and its rapper/owner Benzino, and his part in a dispute between 50 Cent and Ja Rule. He seems to wish none of it had ever happened, and he's ready to move on."[8] RapReviews was less positive: "Continuing to wring out sympathy from his tear-soaked towel of a life, Eminem doubles-up with "Like Toy Soldiers," another self-produced, self-sorry introspection on the Slim Shady saga."[9] The Guardian was happy of sampling: "Like Toy Soldiers, about Ja Rule and Benzino, is similarly brilliant. Set to the album's one genuinely fantastic backing track, involving a military drumbeat and a sample from Martika's forgotten 1980s hit Toy Soldiers, its lyrics switch from truce-calling to belligerent indignation and back again, often in the space of one line."[10] NY Times described: "Toy Soldiers," scheduled to be the next single, recycles the 1980s pop hit by Martika so that Eminem can rehash his beefs with Ja Rule and the Source. But the vitriol is mainly gone, and he sounds sad and clear-eyed, ending the rhyme by proposing a truce: "It's not a plea that I'm coppin'/I'm just willing to be the bigger man./If y'all can quit poppin'/Off at the jaws well then I can,/'Cause frankly I'm sick of talkin'/I'm not gonna let someone else's coffin/Rest on my conscience."[11]

Music video

Released on December 3, 2004, the song's video starts with two young boys, one who is white and one who is black, reading a book called "Toy Soldiers," which contains the lyrics of this song. It begins at the hospital where Eminem and other rappers are watching, in despair, the doctors trying to save D12 member Bugz (played by fellow D12 member Proof). Then Eminem is seen in a series of scenes rapping the song in a deserted alleyway. Then, it goes through a series of scenes showing the various feuds mentioned in this song. They include seeing the news, rappers battling in studios, and street encounters. Near the end, Eminem stands shocked seeing the shooting of Bugz. It switches back to the hospital, where Bugz dies and finishes at his funeral, which has a choir in which the black kid and the white kid from when Martika starts to sing. Cameo appearances in the video include 50 Cent, Luis Resto, Dr. Dre, Obie Trice, and D12. Deceased rappers 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Big L, and Bugz are also shown at the end of the music video to show the fatal consequences of rap wars.

In a moment of life imitating art, Proof was himself shot and killed on April 11, 2006 after an altercation broke out at a nightclub in Detroit, Michigan.

Track listing

Digital download[12]
No. Title Length
1. "Like Toy Soldiers"   4:56
2. "Just Lose It" (DJ Green Lantern Remix) 3:30
Total length:
 8:26
Digital EP[13]
No. Title Length
1. "Like Toy Soldiers"   4:56
2. "Rabbit Run" (Soundtrack Version) 3:10
3. "Like Toy Soldiers" (Instrumental) 4:43
Total length:
 12:09
UK CD1[14]
No. Title Length
1. "Like Toy Soldiers"   4:56
2. "Rabbit Run" (Soundtrack Version) 3:10
Total length:
 8:06
UK CD2[15]
No. Title Length
1. "Like Toy Soldiers"   4:56
2. "Rabbit Run" (Soundtrack Version) 3:10
3. "Like Toy Soldiers" (Instrumental) 4:43
4. "Like Toy Soldiers" (Music Video) 4:56
Total length:
 17:05
UK DVD[16]
No. Title Length
3. "Like Toy Soldiers" (Music Video) 4:56
4. "Like Toy Soldiers" (Making of the Video) 3:00
Total length:
 7:56
German CD Single[17]
No. Title Length
1. "Like Toy Soldiers"   4:56
2. "Just Lose It" (DJ Green Lantern Remix) 3:10
3. "Like Toy Soldiers" (Instrumental) 4:43
4. "Like Toy Soldiers" (Music Video) 4:56
Total length:
 17:25
UK CD2[18]
No. Title Length
1. "Like Toy Soldiers"   4:56
2. "Just Lose It" (DJ Green Lantern Remix) 3:30
Total length:
 8:26

Charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[19] 4
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[20] 8
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[21] 11
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[22] 18
Denmark (Tracklisten)[23] 2
Eurochart Hot 100 (Billboard)[24] 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[25] 15
France (SNEP)[26] 34
Germany (Media Control AG)[27] 8
Hungary (Mahasz)[28] 6
Ireland (IRMA)[29] 3
Italy (FIMI)[30] 8
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[31] 7
New Zealand (RIANZ)[32] 2
Norway (VG-lista)[33] 4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[34] 14
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 3
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[36] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[37] 34
US Pop Songs (Billboard)[38] 24
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[39] 64
US Pop 100 (Billboard)[40] 24

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[41] Gold 35,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[42] Silver 200,000
United States (RIAA)[43] Gold 500,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

See also

References

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  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2005-02-06" UK Singles Chart.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Like Toy Soldiers in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH

External links

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