'Face Jam

These days, there are few pop stars who'd say no to Babyface. Madonna, with whom he authored the chart-topper ''Take a Bow,'' drives herself to Edmonds' home to write in his music room. ''Most people underestimate Madonna in terms of her writing,'' he says. ''The majority of her lyrics are hers. She gets a bad rap, but we always have a great time. Though I've had good relationships with almost all the people I work with, she's the most real.''

In fact, Edmonds seems to harmonize with all of the biggest divas. ''My first time working with 'Face was on 'I'm Your Baby Tonight','' says Whitney Houston. ''He's incredible — he can write a lyric in five seconds! Only 'Face could come up with a 'Shoop' and make it sound right. Whenever he and I get together, it's magic.''

Even the King of Pop agreed to surrender a modicum of control when he and Babyface collaborated on ''On the Line,'' a song featured in the Spike Lee film Get On the Bus. ''I wouldn't go to his turf this time,'' says Edmonds, who first worked with the Jacksons in 1989 on 2300 Jackson Street. Edmonds says he was prepared to walk away from the Lee project if Jackson didn't agree to his terms. ''When I work with Michael on his turf, I don't think we connect. The people around him control things, and he uses them to keep people away. This time it was really enjoyable, and I can't say the other times were. I can't say there was any real connection before this.''

Edmonds' own home turf was originally Indianapolis, where he grew up one of six boys (his father was the manager of a cab company; his mother sold encyclopedias door-to-door). He launched his music career in the early '80s with a group called Manchild. Those days, he says, were a struggle; he remembers battles with managers and lawsuits. ''There were a lot of humiliations back then,'' he says simply.

In 1983, just when Edmonds was about to embark on a solo career, he met Antonio ''L.A.'' Reid, who urged him to join his band the Deele as both lead guitarist and songwriter/producer. He got his nickname one day when Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins met him and cried out, ''Babyface!'' ''Kenny looked as if he wanted to choke Bootsy,'' recalls Reid, who now co-owns LaFace Records, a subsidiary of Arista, with Edmonds. ''He hated the name. But one time we introduced him as Babyface on stage as a joke and people screamed. After the show, girls lined up outside the dressing room to see Kenny. The name he didn't want ended up as the hook that started everything happening.''

And it's still happening. Babyface has just launched a movie production company called Edmonds Entertainment. (Tracey, for her part, runs her own label, Yab Yum Records.) Its first feature film, Soul Food (starring Vanessa Williams), begins shooting this month, and Edmonds is considering playing one of the roles himself. But he's not about to give up his day job. He likes it behind the scenes — and sounds as though he's determined not to let his own nascent stardom get in the way. In the works are Babyface-produced albums for the Rolling Stones and Elton John and two songs for the Whitney Houston holiday film The Preacher's Wife, whose soundtrack is likely to follow the commercial trajectories of the Bodyguard and Exhale discs. ''I'm at a pretty happy place in my life right now,'' says Edmonds, gazing around at the awards in his den. ''I like the blending. Sometimes I feel sorry for Madonna. I'm not looking to be a huge star. I'm not looking to be that large.''