Most parents have to keep teenage sons and daughters away from Eminem's profanity-laden flow. But Kamehameha Schools senior Teri Nakakura had a different kind of problem in her family's 'Aiea home.

"I guess it was a mid-life crisis or something," said Teri, giggling. "But when my dad brought home Eminem CDs I was, like ..."

Her voice trailed off in a search for words, still baffled by the very amusing incredulity of the situation. Fortunately for Teri, her dad's interest in Marshall Mathers III was just a passing phase.

"My dad doesn't listen to the CDs anymore, and I don't blame him. I wouldn't listen to them," said Teri, 17. "I hate Eminem. He has so much anger."

Asked if at the time she was, like, going, "Dad, what the heck is up with you?" Teri laughed.

"Yeah, actually, I was."

Welcome to the reality of music's role in the lifestyle of the early 21st-century American teenager. A world where in spite of some evidence to the contrary, not all teenagers instinctively gravitate toward music their parents hate. They also may or may not own or know how to operate an iPod. And not all teens illegally download music off the Web as if it were, like, free or something, either.

We talked to five Honolulu teenagers about the music in their lives — where and how they listened, who they listened to and how it got into their hands. They said music relieves their stress or gives them solace, offers up lyrics to think about or motivate them, and provides the soundtrack for their drives to work or the beach.

Music followed our teens to school, into the shower and into their bedrooms. It woke them up in the morning and lulled them to sleep at night. They generally believed file-sharing was wrong if one had the money to buy music, but permissible if one couldn't afford to.

The teens we spoke to were also armed with opinions on hot-button music industry issues such as copyrighted music being offered or downloaded for free. They know what's illegal and what isn't.

And listening to music is as much a part of their everyday lives as grooving to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Madonna and Nirvana was to their parents.

"I can't stand American pop music and rap. And I can't stand Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera," said Kapolei High School sophomore Brittany Kinoshita, sternly. "If you listen to their voices live, it's just not as good as on the CD. I don't like rap because it's just gross, if you listen to it."

Brittany, 15, is far more fond of Japanese and Korean alt-rock bands like L-Arcenciel and Orange Range.

"It's part of my Asian culture," said Brittany of her music of choice. "It's good dance music. It's good singing music. And it's just really upbeat.

"I guess you could say it isn't as depressing as some American rock is."

Brittany understands some of the lyrics, and looks up those she doesn't on the Internet. She burns her mp3s on to a disc and takes her portable CD player everywhere, including school, where she and her anime club friends sing along to music during lunch. She'd prefer a new CD player to an iPod, and would also like the import CDs she buys at Shirokiya to be a lot cheaper.

"If I don't have the money, I'll stare at the CD I want for a very long time," said Brittany, glumly.

Travis Curry, 18, buys up to seven CDs a month to add to his 300-plus collection of punk, classic rock and jazz. He doesn't care for downloading from pay-sites or file-sharing.

"If you're buying a CD of a band that's not really well known or struggling, it's kind of a way to support the band," said Travis, who graduated from Punahou School in June. "Being in a band that makes all of its profits off of our CD sales, I find that important."

Travis has drummed in punk trio P*** Poor Excuse for the last three years. The band has played all-ages shows around town and garage-recorded and packaged two CDs of original music it sells at gigs.

"I would feel kind of cheated if my CD was downloaded," said Travis. "But then again, we sell our CDs for five bucks apiece and try to keep things reasonable. If I was in a band that could get their CDs into stores nationwide and sell them for $18.99 or something ridiculous like that, I'd understand if some people didn't have the money.

MEET THE MUSIC LOVERS

Teri Nakakura

Age: 17

School: Kamehameha

Favorite music: reggae, Hawaiian, adult top 40

Favorite musicians: Ooklah The Moc, Wicked Blend, Go Jimmy Go

24 hours locked up with this music/musician would drive me insane: Britney Spears

Every CD collection should have: “In Between Dreams” — Jack Johnson

Most-used music gear: car stereo

Most-wanted music gear: home stereo with working CD player

Got ringtones?: No

Travis Curry

Age: 18

School: Punahou (recently graduated), University of Washington (currently
attending)

Favorite music: punk,
classic rock, jazz

24 hours locked up with this music/musician would drive me insane: Nickelback

Favorite CD: “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” — Red Hot Chili Peppers

Every CD collection should have: “Sailing the Seas of Cheese” — Primus

Most-used music gear: portable CD player

Most-wanted music gear: new car stereo

Got ringtones?: No

Brittany Kinoshita

Age: 15

School: Kapolei High

Favorite music: Japanese and Korean alt-rock

Favorite musicians: L-Arcenciel, Orange Range

24 hours locked up with this music/musician would drive me insane: Britney Spears

Favorite CD: “American Idiot” — Green Day

Every CD collection should have: “Smile” — L-Arcenciel

Most-used music gear: portable CD player

Most-wanted music gear: new portable CD player

Got ringtones?: No

Alex Taniguchi

Age: 14

School: Roosevelt High

Favorite music: hip-hop, modern rock

Favorite musicians: Unwritten Law, Fat Joe

24 hours locked up with this music/musician would drive me insane: Lil Jon

Favorite CD: “Mezmerize” — System of a Down

Every CD collection should have: “Mezmerize” — System of a Down

Most-used music gear: portable mini-disc player

Most-wanted music gear: bedroom stereo

Got ringtones?: No

Kehau Raines

Age: 17

School: Castle High

Favorite music: reggae, Hawaiian

Favorite musicians: Steel Pulse, Fiji, Big Mountain

24 hours locked up with this music/musician would drive me insane: Classical

Favorite CD: “Independance Day” — Fiji

Most-used music gear: radios

Most-wanted music gear: iPod

Got ringtones?: Yes