Yes, its hard to find in the manuals. Its in the appendum for V1.2 for the MPC2500 but I bet it works the same for you. On the main screen, move the cursor to the MUTE field and press the window button. If I'm right, you can then turn on "Use track mute events".
The MPC is the reason I have repurchased a bunch of midi cables and looking at a decent 8x8 midi patcher/mixer. After selling my A-880 patcher and throwing away midi cables 5 years ago, I am relying more on midi now than I planned
Cheers,
B