A shakedown is once again taking place in the music industry and Hip-Hop artists are taking a hit. When the smoke cleared, dead prez and Keith Murray were dropped by Columbia and Def Jam records respectively despite critical acclaim, magazines features and brand new videos. And The Roots, Common and Talib Kweli are facing a shuffle while MCA Records begins its spiral toward liquidation.

dead prez, who landed on Columbia after Loud Records became defunct now finds itself again without a home. The layoff comes only a few weeks after being rated 4.5 mics in The Source magazine. With a lukewarm first single, Keith Murray's 4th LP, which was initially scheduled to drop on April 22 got pushed back to July 15. Murray's dismissal, rumored to stem from an altercation with label management, comes despite his newest single, "Candy Bar" getting heavy rotation on TV and radio.

Though MCA records will cease to exist next week, its rap roster has been quite active, showing no signs of slowing down despite the label's closure. In fact, MCA artists are ironically everywhere these days.

The mighty Mos Def and the queen of hip hop R&B soul, Mary J. Blige will both be honored at the 16th annual Essence Awards, scheduled to air on June 27 on Fox. The two hour celebration, whose theme is "The Power of the Word" will include performances by Talib Kweli, who is set to bless the audience with his smash hit, "Get By" and Common, who will perform "The Love Of My Life,"(An Ode to Hip Hop) along side Erykah Badu.

Besides recently appearing in The Italian Job, Mos has also been hitting the lab, working on eye opening collaborations with Brooklyn Brethren M.O.P and Foxy Brown as well as a slew of up & coming artists.

Only a few days after hosting the 1st annual Hip Hop Unity concert at the Apollo Theater, The legendary Roots crew will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live on June 12. Blackalicious has been performing extensively and Field Mob will take its crazy antics across the country as part of the Da Dirty Dance Party Tour starting July 17.

While some acts are busy promoting their present projects, others are gearing up to put work towards forthcoming releases. Rapper/singer Novel, who just performed on Soul Train last weekend is garnering increased rotation with "Peach," the lead off single from his upcoming debut Da Word while the innovative Pharoahe Monch just dropped "Agent Orange," the politically charged first single from his August scheduled Innervisions.

Skillz, who has been rumored to land at Interscope following MCA's demise recently wrapped a video shoot for the Timbaland crafted "Off Da Wall" while Kardinal Offishall, fresh off cameos with Damani(along with the Clipse) and Prince Paul just shot a video for the Neptunes co-signed "Belly Dancer." Skillz' I Ain't Mad No More and Kardi's Firestarter vol 2. The F Word Theory are both scheduled to be late summer releases and Mary J. Blige is presently working on her new album with P. Diddy.