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After

closing their West Coast office last month, Rawkus

Records laid off

over 50 percent of their New York City staff on Friday,

December 7th. Despite rumors that Def Jam was buying

a stake in the label, sources state that Rawkus has

inked a new distribution deal with MCA Records.

"I

came to work, they called us into a meeting and just

told everyone that we were done until further notice,"

said one employee who was laid off. Rawkus has had problems

the past year with some of the artists on their roster

not being happy with the way their projects were promoted,

most notably Hi-Tek and DJ Evil Dee.

MCA Records

has recently signed Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle Records

imprint and is home to such acts as The Roots, GZA,

Common, Kardinal Offishall & Doggystyle Records.