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:

KENNY (BABYFACE) EDMONDS

Co-president of LaFace Records, producer, writer and performer.

Like most everyone else in the music industry, Kenny (Babyface) Edmonds is eagerly awaiting the reception of the debut album from the rap group Tha Dogg Pound. The release is expected to touch off controversy about gangsta rap on such a large scale that it could result in Time Warner’s severing ties with Interscope, the company distributing the album.

But Edmonds isn’t lining up with one side or the other.

“If [Time Warner’s] corporate people feel they don’t want to have Tha Dogg Pound record, that’s their right,” says the 37-year-old, a hugely successful producer and artist as well as co-head of LaFace Records (the home to TLC, Toni Braxton and others) with his partner, L.A. Reid.

“It’s commendable for someone to walk away from dollars they know will come for moral reasons you feel that strong about,” he says. But, he adds, “I don’t think it’s bad for whatever company picks it up. It’s not like Tha Dogg Pound is wrong to say whatever they say on the record.”

Still, he says: “If Tha Dogg Pound’s record could suddenly be on LaFace and I thought it wasn’t representative of LaFace, I wouldn’t want to be involved with it--but not because of what I think people would say,” he says. “[Hard-core rap] is not something I would go after.”

Edmonds has long been known for sexuality in his music--but he tries never to be crude about it.

“I try to be clever in being suggestive and not outright using foul language,” he says. “We’re not living in the day when ‘The Sound of Music’ is going to be a Top 10 record.”

Recently married and hoping to have children, he says he would work hard to pass on strong family values.

“I’d monitor like crazy,” he says, referring to what his children might want to hear or watch. “I would try to give my child a wide range of things to listen to but try to explain what it was. But you may have a child who just loves [gangsta-rap or other crude things]. Ain’t nothing you can do about it.”