Aaron Carter , 12, says he wouldn't mind if some of his older brother's success came his way.

''He's so cool, and he taught me a lot about not being stuck up,'' Aaron says of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter , 20. ''When he joined the band, I went to rehearsals and decided that's what I wanted to do.''

Aaron's on his way with his second album, Aaron's Party (Come Get It). The single of the same name is No. 37 on Billboard 's Hot 100 singles chart after six weeks.

Not bad for a seventh-grader whose first album sold more than 1 million records overseas and who landed a job as lead singer for a rock band at age 7. ''We were called Dead End, and it was a dead end,'' he says. ''We were really bad, but I had fun doing it.''

Aaron's latest single is a catchy rap ditty about throwing a party without parental supervision. Any autobiographical elements to the song? '' I think I tried to get my mom and dad out of the house once or twice, but they were onto me,'' says Aaron, one of five kids.

Speaking of rap music, what does he think of Eminem 's explicit lyrics? ''I think he must not really like himself to say the things he does and rap about really violent things,'' Aaron says. His favorite rapper? Will Smith , ''because he sings about positive stuff.''