Looking for a Rapprochement

''We're taking this very seriously,'' says Warner Music VP Ken Sunshine, ''and we'll be meeting — at least with Tucker — quite a bit in the near future. I'm not going to tell you that we're going to do what they want, right away or ever. But we're sure going to engage them. That is a real commitment.''

But given the tremendous success of recent albums from Tupac, Snoop, and Dr. Dre, the commitment could be a costly one. (Snoop's Doggystyle, for example, has sold 4 million copies.) ''Death Row is a moneymaker for Interscope Records,'' says one former Interscope exec. ''They will never be telling Dr. Dre or Snoop Doggy Dogg what they can and can't do.'' The suggestion that corporate honchos might restrict artists' lyrical content elicited merely a chuckle from a spokesman for Death Row Records.

In even entertaining the possibility, however, Time Warner may have damaged its credibility among hip-hop artists. ''I'm working with a [rap] artist right now that Warner wants to sign,'' says music attorney Todd Rubenstein, whose company reps such acts as Redman and Tha Dogg Pound. ''And I'm going to call them and tell them about all this and make sure they're aware of what's going on at Time Warner.''

(Additional reporting by Heidi Siegmund)