COVER STORY : AT THE CENTER OF THE DOLE FIRESTORM

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) got plenty of attention when he scolded Hollywood about sex and violence in movies, TV and pop music. But, as The Times reports today (see Page A1), Dole’s comments aren’t changing the face of show business. Yet. The creative and business powerbrokers will tell you they’ve always been thoughful about what they produce. Here, then, are some snapshots of life on the front lines:

BUSHWICK BILL

Rap singer

When Sen. Bob Dole named the Geto Boys among those he condemned for violent lyrics, the timing couldn’t have been better for group member Bushwick Bill--he has a brand-new solo album.

“I want to thank Bob Dole and all his lily-livered, [expletive]-talking politician homies for giving me more than $300,000 of free press,” says the Houston-based rapper, 23. “I want to thank him for opening his mouth and sticking his foot in it so I could be heard.”

This is actually the second time that controversy has given the Geto Boys some press. In 1990, Geffen Records refused to release a Geto Boys album because of what the company considered offensive lyrics. Rick Rubin’s Def American company, which distributed the Geto Boys at the time, also left Geffen. But the publicity strengthened their standing as urban underdogs.

Bushwick has incorporated shots of himself burning “Dole for President” campaign signs into a new video for the song “Who’s the Biggest?” That action, in turn, has brought further protest from Dole, who said he was saddened that Bushwick “reacted out of hatred.”

“He says I incited this hatred,” Bushwick says, “but he incited it. I have no hatred for people I don’t know.”

Those who believe the violent images in his material are harmful, he says, are not giving his fans enough credit.

“I’m not trying to write raps for people in three-piece suits sitting behind big oak desks,” he says. “I’m writing for people who can’t speak for themselves and about things we see every day. My fans know to treat my lyrics like a T-bone steak--you know you can’t chew on it unless you cut the fat off.”

The father of two--with a third child on the way--intends to raise his kids in that same environment. He believes that by standing up to his critics he sets a good example: “I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not. Straight up like that.”