Shwayze

Thanks to MTV, Aaron “Shwayze” Smith and Cisco Adler began climbing the ladder of success several rungs higher than most new artists. Buzzin’, a limited-run series on the network, brought the chilled-out hip-hop duo straight into the living rooms of its prime demographic, and the twosome’s laid-back demeanor turned out to be likable and at least moderately entertaining. But although it earned decent airplay and OK sales for its self-titled album, the pair’s music doesn’t make much of an impression outside the context of the show. Worse, Smith has recently been quoted expressing doubts that a second season of Buzzin’ will happen — meaning he and Adler won’t be able to use MTV as a megaphone anymore. Taking that next step up the ladder just got a lot harder.