Verified archive entry

Go to Sleep

By Eminem · Targeting Benzino, Ja Rule

Go to Sleep is a diss track by Eminem targeting Benzino and Ja Rule. The recording also credits Obie Trice and DMX. The track belongs to the early-2000s dispute linking Shady/Aftermath and Murder Inc.; it intensified after Ja Rule mentioned Eminem's daughter.

Released2003

Annotated3

ExplicitYes

CONNECTED RECORD

Where this track sits

Timeline: Eminem vs. Benzino

Addressable transcript

Lyrics & breakdown

01
[Verse 1: Eminem]
02
I ain't gonna eat, I ain't gonna sleep
03
Ain't gonna breathe 'til I see what I wanna see
04
And what I wanna see is you go to sleep in the dirt
05
Permanently, you just bein' hurt
06
This ain't gonna work for me, it just wouldn't be
07
Sufficient enough 'cause we are just gonna be
08
Enemies as long as we breathe, I don't ever see
09
Either of us comin' to terms where we can agree
10
There ain't gonna be no reasonin' speakin' with me
11
You speak on my seed, then me no speak-a Inglés
12
So we gonna beef, and keep on beefin' unless
13
You're gonna agree to meet with me in the flesh
14
And settle this face-to-face, and you're gonna see
15
A demon unleashed in me that you've never seen
16
And you're gonna see this gangster pee on himself
17
I see you, D12, and thanks, but me need no help
18
Me do this one all by my lonely, I don't need fifteen of my homies
19
When I see you, I'm seein' you, me and you only
20
We never met, but best believe you gon' know me
21
When I'm this close to see you exposed as phony
Block noteContests who deserves the top position
TargetBenzino
MeaningWhat it means: In “We never met, but best believe you gon' know me,” Eminem turns rank, legacy, or leadership into the issue and argues that Benzino's claim to the position is undeserved. Why it was said: The track belongs to the early-2000s dispute linking Shady/Aftermath and Murder Inc.; it intensified after Ja Rule mentioned Eminem's daughter. The line identifies the prize behind the feud—control of reputation—and asks whose record supports the title rather than whose claim went unchallenged.
ContextThe track belongs to the early-2000s dispute linking Shady/Aftermath and Murder Inc.; it intensified after Ja Rule mentioned Eminem's daughter.
22
Come on, bitch, show me! Pick me up, throw me!
23
Lift me up, hold me, just like you told me
24
You was gonna do, that's what I thought, you're pitiful
25
I'm rid of you, all of you, Ja, you'll get it too
Block noteMakes the confrontation explicit
TargetJa Rule
MeaningWhat it means: In “I'm rid of you, all of you, Ja, you'll get it too,” Eminem addresses Ja Rule directly and makes the situation described in the quoted line the point of confrontation. Why it was said: The track belongs to the early-2000s dispute linking Shady/Aftermath and Murder Inc.; it intensified after Ja Rule mentioned Eminem's daughter. Naming or plainly addressing Ja Rule removes the safety of a subliminal and makes the quoted claim something the target can either answer or leave standing.
ContextThe track belongs to the early-2000s dispute linking Shady/Aftermath and Murder Inc.; it intensified after Ja Rule mentioned Eminem's daughter.
26
[Chorus: Eminem & DMX]
27
Now go to sleep, bitch, die, motherfucker, die
28
Ugh, time's up, bitch, close your eyes
29
Go to sleep, bitch (What?), why are you still alive?
30
How many times I gotta say, "Close your eyes"?
31
And go to sleep, bitch (What?), die, motherfucker, die
32
Bye, bye, motherfucker, bye, bye
33
Go to sleep, bitch (What?), why are you still alive?
34
Why? Die, motherfucker, ah, ah, ah, go to sleep, bitch
35
[Verse 2: Obie Trice]
36
We got you niggas nervous on purpose
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To hurt your focus, you's not MCs
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You's worthless, you's not them Gs
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You's a circus, you's no appeal, please
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Use curtains
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You use words Kool Herc slurred in two-thousand-third, you's perpin'
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You's no threat, who's you servin'?
43
When lyrically oughta bury you beneath the dirt when
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You fuck with a label overseein' the Earth
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Shady, motherfucker, O. Trice's birth
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And as I mold, I become more cursed
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So we can put down the verse, take it to the turf
48
Cock and squeeze, and he who reach the hearse
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Is he who depicts fiction in his verse
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And as I breathe, and you be deceased
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The world believe you deceived just to speak
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You's not the streets, you's the desk
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Use not your chest, nigga, use a vest
54
Before tools choose your rest, you chose death
55
Six feet deep, nigga, that's the depth
Block noteImagines the battle as physical destruction
TargetBenzino
MeaningWhat it means: In “Before tools choose your rest, you chose death,” Eminem converts lyrical defeat into death, shooting, burial, or bodily harm directed at Benzino. Why it was said: The track belongs to the early-2000s dispute linking Shady/Aftermath and Murder Inc.; it intensified after Ja Rule mentioned Eminem's daughter. The violent image makes the response sound final: instead of proposing an endless exchange, the artist depicts Benzino as unable to return for another round.
ContextThe track belongs to the early-2000s dispute linking Shady/Aftermath and Murder Inc.; it intensified after Ja Rule mentioned Eminem's daughter.
56
[Chorus: Eminem & DMX]
57
Now go to sleep, bitch, die, motherfucker, die
58
Ugh, time's up, bitch, close your eyes
59
Go to sleep, bitch (What?), why are you still alive?
60
How many times I gotta say, "Close your eyes"?
61
And go to sleep, bitch (What?), die, motherfucker, die
62
Bye, bye, motherfucker, bye, bye (Uh, uh, uh)
63
Go to sleep, bitch (What?), why are you still alive?
64
Why? Die, motherfucker, ah, ah, ah, go to sleep, bitch (Uh, uh)
65
[Verse 3: DMX]
66
Hey, dog, I'ma walk like a beast (Yeah), talk like the streets (Yeah)
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I'ma stay blazin' New York with the heat (Yeah)
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Stalk on the beat (Yeah), walk with my feet (Ugh)
69
Understand my pain, the rain ain't sweet (What?)
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Peep how I'm movin' (Uh-huh), peep where I'm goin' (Uh-huh)
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Shit don't seep, then sleep not knowin' (Woo)
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But I'ma keep growin', gettin' larger than life
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Easy goin', but the same one that started the fight
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He be knowin' how dog get when dog gon' bite (Ugh)
75
Tried to show him the dog shit, it's dog for life (Ugh)
76
Grand champ, and my bloodline is tight (What?)
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'Cause it's all good (Yeah), 'cause it's all right (Come on)
78
Niggas tried to holla but couldn't holla back
79
Now they got to swallow everything in the sack
80
Blood Line, and we can go track for track
81
Damn, dog, why you had to do them niggas like that?
82
[Chorus: Eminem & DMX]
83
Now go to sleep, bitch, die, motherfucker, die
84
Ugh, time's up, bitch, close your eyes
85
Go to sleep, bitch (What?), why are you still alive?
86
How many times I gotta say, "Close your eyes"?
87
And go to sleep, bitch (What?), die, motherfucker, die
88
Bye, bye, motherfucker, bye, bye
89
Go to sleep, bitch (What?), why are you still alive?
90
Why? Die, motherfucker, ah, ah, ah, go to sleep, bitch
91
[Outro: Eminem & DMX]
92
All of you motherfuckers, take that (Ugh)
93
Here, take this too, bitch
94
Uh, uh, uh, uh, wahoo
95
We're killin' all you motherfuckers dead
96
All of you
97
Fake-ass gangsters
98
No more press, no more press
99
Rot, motherfuckers, rot (Uh-huh)
100
Decay, in the dirt, bitch, in the motherfuckin' dirt
101
Die nameless, bitch, die nameless
102
No more fame
103
Ahh, hahahaha
104
Yo, X, come on, man (Woo)
105
Obie, let's go
106
(Haha)