Like Toy Soldiers
| Like Toy Soldiers | |
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| publication | January 25, 2005 |
| length | 4:56 |
| Genre (s) | Hip hop |
| text |
M. Mathers , L. Resto , M. Dawson, MJ Margules |
| music | Eminem |
| album | Encore |
Like Toy Soldiers (English for. " As toy soldiers ") is a song of the American rapper Eminem . The song is the fourth single from his fifth studio album Encore and was released on January 25, 2005. The song is also featured on Eminem's best-of album Curtain Call: The Hits .
content
Like Toy Soldiers is about clashes between Eminem and other rappers like Ray Benzino and Murder Inc. A beef from his mentor Dr. Dre mentions: Eminem raps "I went through my whole career without ever mentionin '..." (in German: "In my whole career I never mentioned ..."). The name of that person remains unspoken, but this passage is believed to be a reference to Suge Knight with whom Dr. Dre had been fighting for a long time. Eminem also says he stayed out of this beef because Dre asked him to. At the beginning of the second verse, Eminem says that there was a time when you could rap without fear of one of your people dying. But the matter escalated because someone brought the children of other artists into play. He speaks of a song by the rapper Ja Rule , in which he mentions Eminem's daughter (he asks what will become of his daughter, referring to Eminem's statements that his mother Debbie was a drug addict and his ex-wife Kim was a slut). In the first verse of Like Toy Soldiers Eminem raps: "There's a certain line, you just don't cross and he crossed it, I heard him say Hailie's name on a song and I just lost it" (in German: "Es there's a line you can't cross, and he did. I heard him use Hailie's name in a song and I just freaked out. ") In the end, Eminem says he doesn't want to give up, just show his greatness because if the others could rest, so could he. However, he also thinks that he and his friends like 50 Cent and Dr. Dre that beef would have won.
Production and samples
Eminem produced the beat of the song himself and used a sample of the song Toy Soldiers by singer Martika as well as elements from The Hot Rock - Main Title by Quincy Jones for the chorus . The track was recorded in the 54Sound studio in Detroit .
Music video
The video for Like Toy Soldiers was filmed by The Saline Project.
It begins with two boys opening a book called Toy Soldiers , which contains the lyrics of the song. It also includes a picture of Eminem in the corridor of a hospital. Eminem and the other D12 members wait desperately as doctors try to save the life of Proof who was shot in the video . It also shows scenes in which Eminem raps in a dark alley, as well as newspaper and TV reports on the conflicts between different rappers mentioned in the song. Finally you can see how Proof was shot out of a moving car and shortly afterwards the doctors have to give up the rescue measures. At the end you see the funeral with a children's choir singing the chorus.
In addition to Eminem, Proof and the other D12 members, Dr. Dre , 50 Cent and Obie Trice up. At the end you can also see pictures of the shot rappers Tupac , The Notorious BIG , Big L and the former D12 member Bugz .
Tragically, Proof, who was fatally injured by gunfire in the video, was actually shot dead on April 11, 2006.
single
Cover design
The single cover shows a fallen toy soldier lying in a drop of blood. The background is white and in the upper part of the picture are the words Eminem and Like Toy Soldiers .
Chart successes
Like Toy Soldiers entered the German charts at number 8 on February 7, 2005 and stayed there for the next week before the song dropped to number 9. Overall, the song stayed in the top 100 for twelve weeks. The song was most successful in Great Britain, where it reached the top of the charts.
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Awards
In 2018, Like Toy Soldiers was awarded a triple platinum record for more than three million sales in the United States .
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
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 Australia (ARIA)
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 gold
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35,000 |
 Denmark (IFPI)
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gold
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45,000 |
 United States (RIAA)
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 3 × platinum
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3,000,000 |
 United Kingdom (BPI)
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platinum
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600,000 |
| All in all |
3 × gold 4 × platinum |
3,680,000 |
Main article: Eminem / Music Sales Awards
Web links
- Lyrics with interpretations (English)
- Lyrics (German)
- Music video on YouTube.com
swell
- ↑ Lyrics in the booklet
- ↑ Single cover
- ↑ Chart tracking Like Toy Soldiers on officialcharts.de
- ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ a b c d 2005 annual charts: DE AT CH UK (PDF file; 467 kB) US
- ↑ US: 3x platinum
| Studio albums |
Infinite • The Slim Shady LP • The Marshall Mathers LP • The Eminem Show • Encore • Relapse • Recovery • The Marshall Mathers LP 2 • Revival • Kamikaze • Music to Be Murdered By |
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| Extended plays |
Slim Shady EP • Hell: The Sequel |
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| Soundtracks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Compilation albums |
The Singles • Curtain Call: The Hits |
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| Video albums |
The Up in Smoke Tour • E • All Access Europe • Eminem Presents: The Anger Management Tour • Live from New York City |
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| Label sampler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Singles |
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| Featurings |
Dead Wrong • Forgot About Dre • The Watcher • Rock City • Hellbound • One Day at a Time (Em's Version) • Welcome 2 Detroit • Smack That • Drop the World • Roman's Revenge • That's All She Wrote • I Need a Doctor • Writer's Block • Throw That • My Life • C'mon Let Me Ride • Calm Down • Twerk Dat Pop That! • Best Friend • Speedom (WWC2) • The Hills Remix • Caterpillar • Homicide • Bang |
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| Splits |
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