Please explain Eminem's "Toy Soldiers"?

Question

The song talks about someone (who?) putting his daughter's name into a song and bad words and media trashing going back and forth between groups (?). I know someone was killed, but has the issue(s) been resolved since the songs release or is it still tense?

Answer 1

It had something to do with a beef with Ja Rule, Suge Knight, and Dr. Dre. Em wanted to defend Dre but, Dre told him to stay out of it because it did not concern him.

You might understand it better with the lyrics:

Step by step, heart to heart, left right left
We all fall down...

[Chorus]
Step by step, heart to heart, left right left
We all fall down like toy soldiers
Bit by bit, torn apart, we never win
But the battle wages on for toy soldiers

[Verse 1]
I\'m supposed to be the soldier who never blows his composure
Even though I hold the weight of the whole world on my shoulders
I am never supposed to show it, my crew ain\'t supposed to know it
Even if it means goin\' toe to toe with a Benzino it don\'t matter
I\'d never drag them in battles that I can handle unless I absolutely have to
I\'m supposed to set an example
I need to be the leader, my crew looks for me to guide \'em
If some sh*t ever just pop off, I\'m supposed to be beside \'em
Now Ja said \"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 on a song and I just lost it
It was crazy, this sh*t be way beyond some Jay-z and Nas sh*t
And even though the battle was won, I feel like we lost it
I spent too much energy on it, honestly I\'m exhausted
And I\'m so caught in it I almost feel I\'m the one who caused it
This ain\'t what I\'m in hip-hop for, it\'s not why I got in it
That was never my object for someone to get killed
Why would I wanna destroy something I help build
It wasn\'t my intentions, my intentions was good
I went through my whole career without ever mentionin\' (?)
Now it\'s just out of respect for not runnin\' my mouth
And talkin\' about something that I knew nothing about
Plus Dre told me stay out, this just wasn\'t my beef
So I did, I just fell back, watched and gritted my teeth
While he\'s all over t.v. down talkin\' a man who literally saved my life
Like f*ck it i understand this is business
And this sh*t just isn\'t none of my business
But still knowin\' this sh*t could pop off at any minute cuz

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]
There used to be a time when you could just say a rhyme
And wouldn\'t have to worry about one of your people dyin\'
But now it\'s elevated cuz once you put someone\'s kids in it
The sh*t gets escalated, it ain\'t just words no more is it?
It\'s a different ball game, callin\' names and you ain\'t just rappin\'
We actually tried to stop the 50 and Ja beef from happenin\'
Me and Dre had sat with him, kicked it and had a chat with him
And asked him not to start it he wasn\'t gonna go after him
Until Ja started yappin\' in magazines how we stabbed him
f*ck it 50 smash \'em, mash \'em and let him have it
Meanwhile my attention is pullin\' in other directions
Some receptionist at The Source who answers phones at his desk
Has an erection for me and thinks that I\'ll be his ressurection
Tries to blow the dust off his mic and make a new record
But now he\'s f*cked the game up cuz one of the ways I came up
Was through that publication the same one that made me famous
Now the owner of it has got a grudge against me for nothin\'
Well f*ck it, that mutherf*cker can get it too, f*ck him then
But I\'m so busy being pissed off I don\'t stop to think
That we just inherited 50\'s beef with Murder Inc.
And he\'s inherited mine which is fine ain\'t like either of us mind
We still have soldiers that\'s on the front line
That\'s willing to die for us as soon as we give the orders
Never to extort us, strictly to show they support us
We\'ll maybe shout \'em out in a rap or up in a chorus
To show them we love \'em back and let \'em know how important it is
To have run ya nav and who sulked us up in our corners
Their loyalty to us is worth more than any award is
But I ain\'t tryna have none of my people hurt and murdered
There ain\'t words that I can\'t think of a perfecter way to word it
Then to just say that I love ya\'ll too much to see the virdict
I\'ll walk away from it all before I let it go any further
But don\'t get it twisted, it\'s not a plea that I\'m coppin\'
I\'m just willin\' to be the bigger man
If ya\'ll can quit poppin\' off at your jaws with the knockin\'
Cuz frankly I\'m sick of talkin\'
I\'m not gonna let someone elses coffin rest on my conscience cuz

Answer 2

I love him. Terribly misunderstood brilliant mind who has done the absolute best of finding words for a horrific childhood e

" Toy Soldiers" is a song by rapper Eminem on his worldwide hit album Encore, that tells the story of his feuds in an attempt to settle down the rap community. He speaks his heart about problems with The Source magazine and its editor Benzino, as well as Murder Inc. Records. He explains the beef between Ja Rule and 50 Cent. He finishes off the song by offering a truce to his enemies. The song reached the top 40 in the US, and #1 in the UK. It samples heavily on the chorus from the song "Toy Soldiers" by Martika.

The song's video, which depicts Eminem's fellow D12 member Proof being gunned down in a drive-by shooting, took a prophetic turn in the early hours of April 11, 2006, when Proof was actually shot and killed at the CCC nightclub on Detroit's 8 Mile Road. Rapper 50 Cent & rap group, D12 make cameo appearances in this video.

Deceased rappers Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Big L and former D12 member Bugz are also shown at the end of the music video to show the fatal consequences of rap wars.

Eminem leaves out a word in this song when referring to Dr. Dre's beefs. This word is believed to be "Suge", a reference to Suge Knight with whom Dr. Dre had problems.

"Like Toy Soldiers" was put onto Eminem's greatest hits album, Curtain Call, in 2005.

"Like Toy Soldiers" was also made into a CD single with the tracks:
1. Like Toy Soldiers
2. Rabbit Run
3. Like Toy Soldiers (instrumental)
4. Like Toy Soldiers (video)


xperience.

Answer 3

Toy soldiers means the media played him into being a soldier for them... he got into all the beefs because the media forced him to and now he regrets it.

With his daughter name being say. It was Ja that start the beat with eminem, which em try to squash it. And the person that was shot was proof.

On April 11, 2006, Proof suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head at approximately 4:30am EDT (08:30 UTC) at the CCC Club on 8 Mile Road in Detroit, Michigan after fatally shooting Keith Bender Jr., Proof fired the first shots into Bender's head after taking his pistol and striking Bender several times in the face. The eruption is suspected to have been due to an argument over a game of pool, which quickly escalated. Proof was then allegedly shot by the bouncer Mario Etheridge, Bender's cousin. He was then taken by private vehicle to St. John Health's Conner Creek Campus, an outpatient emergency treatment site, and was pronounced dead on arrival shortly thereafter. Exact details of his death and the events that led to it remain unclear.

He was buried on April 20 in The Fellowship Chapel, Detroit to a full house of 2,000 with thousands mourning outside. Friends like Dr. Dre, D12 and other attended Proof's funeral. Eminem, 50 Cent and Obie Trice read eulogies at the service. An excerpt from Eminem's speech: "I'm sure everybody who has ever met him, even just once, can testify to the fact that he illuminated a room when he walked in it. I believe that Proof loved people and people loved him. He was a magnet. He lured you in. You wanted to learn about him, follow his swagger. Without Proof, there would be no Eminem, no Slim Shady, and no D12." Many rap artists offered their condolences to Proof's family after the passing. Proof is survived by his mother Sherallene; father McKinley; wife Sharonda; sons DeShaun Rice and Elijha Abel; and daughters Katieva Walker, Nassan, and Nyeem.

Mostly what eminem is saying about toy soldiers. He telling his side of the story. Also he doesn't wanna start any beef with rapper. Mainly he doesn't want know one to died or get hurt because of his beef.

Answer 4

The song samples "Toy Soldiers" by Markita, which is basically about how no matter how hard we try, we are all going to fall down once in awhile. I think Eminem's version has a similiar theme. He talks about all the pressures he feels from all those around him and he is trying to be perfect but, he has failed. The mention of his daughter refers to the Ja Rule song that mentioned her, which Eminem took offense to and started a verbal battle with Ja. He talks about how his hateful thoughts towards Ja Rule consumed him and made him exhausted.

Answer 5

It's talking about how one by one, all of us will die somehow. Eminems friend (or I think it was his friend...) was shot, and he related that to a war. Rap war, gang war, whatever you want to call it. He's also saying that he always wants to be there for his little girl. He's saying that through the media, one rapper was trashing another, and how they used the media to fight back. I'm not sure if the issue was resolved, sorry.

Answer 6

If you checked out the media behind it...

Basically record labels are like gangs and they talk a lot of sh*t in their songs. And a particular situation had escalated to the point where someone did a drive by at Emenim's studio and his friend got shot. They title 'Toy soldiers' just represents everyone who was involved as pawn in the game.

Answer 7

it seems that there is no more back and forth with anyone right know. But toy soldiers is pretty old, listen there new song with G-Unit and Eminem, in it eminem talks about their beefs alittle.

Answer 8

That's a beef against Benzino, who's threatened to kill Eminem's daughter in a song before.

Answer 9

Not sure about Eminem's version...
the original song he sampled is 80's song "Toy Soldiers" by Martika which was excellent...

Answer 10

Ooooo. Tough one. I think it's about Eminem and his best friend.

I don't know if this is totally true at all. Eminem and his best friend rapped together. Then his friend started going solo just to do better than Eminem. It sort of worked and Eminem killed his friend. I think this from the music video.

Answer 11

It's about another rapper dissing Eminem's daughter and people speaking against him.