HISTORY OF POP AND ROCK MUSIC - part 519 torrent

PART 519



MARTIKA - Toy Soldiers (1988)
EMINEM - Like Toy Soldiers (2004)




"Toy Soldiers" is a 1988 song by Martika appearing on her eponymous debut album in 1988 as the third single in January 1989. It was a number-one Billboard hit song for two weeks in the United States in the summer of 1989.The song spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and New Zealand while reaching number five in both the United Kingdom and Australia. When it spent its first week at number one, it had leapt over Madonna's "Express Yourself" and kept that song from reaching the top spot. On Billboard's year-end chart for 1989, "Toy Soldiers" placed number 29. It was Martika's only number-one single in the U.S., and her highest-ranking single in the United Kingdom. The single was certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA. In March and April 2009, VH1 ran a countdown of the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s. "Toy Soldiers" placed at #67 on the countdown despite the fact that Martika had three other top 40 hits: "More Than You Know" (#18); "I Feel the Earth Move" (#25); and "Love... Thy Will Be Done" (#10).

"Like Toy Soldiers" is a song by American rapper Eminem. It is the third single from his fifth album "Encore". The song samples Martika's 1989 Billboard hit song "Toy Soldiers" and features interpolations from the main title theme from the 1972 film The Hot Rock. The song peaked at number thirty-four on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 2005, number one in the United Kingdom and the top ten in many other European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand.
"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–Nas feud. 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?".
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 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 Proof 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.