Mickey Avalon

Mickey Avalon (born Yeshe Perl; December 3, 1975) is an American rapper from California.

Upon entering the rap scene in 2000, Avalon first adopted the stage name, "The Relevant" and made his first appearance on Met Fly (who would later be known as Andre Legacy)'s album entitled "Wiggin' Out".

In 2004, Avalon first collaborated with Existereo of the Shape Shifters's on the song "No Class."

In 2004, the Dyslexic Speedreaders released their first album which was entitled Catching Up To Wilt.

He later collaborated with Existereo again on: "Couple o'Shitbags & The Fly's That Go With 'em" (2005), "Wrong Side" (2006), "I Love Who" (2007).

His debut self-titled solo album was released in 2006 on Interscope/Shoot to Kill Records in association with MySpace Records.

Frequent topics of Avalon's songs are his experiences with substance abuse and prostitution.

Avalon was raised in a Jewish family and had a turbulent childhood.

His paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors who were imprisoned at Auschwitz.

Though his father cleaned up his act and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous, he was struck and severely injured by a drunk driver leaving a meeting.

At age 19, Avalon made the decision to take his father off life support, ending his life.

During his late teens, Avalon briefly adhered to Orthodox Judaism in an effort to stay off the streets.

Avalon continued as a sex worker and drug dealer until finding success in the music industry.

By his early 20s, Avalon married, had a daughter, and moved to Portland, Oregon.

While battling drug addiction, Avalon moved in with his sister, also a drug addict, with the hope that they could aid each other in recovery.

During this time, his sister relapsed and died from a heroin overdose.

Deciding that he wanted more out of life, Avalon moved back to Los Angeles to make a final attempt to clean up his act.

It was shortly after this return to Southern California that Avalon met Simon Rex and began to gain recognition for his music.

The majority of Avalon's work has themes of hard drug use, particularly in reference to his consumption of heroin and crack cocaine, an unusual style in hip hop, where the artist more commonly refers to the sale of such substances.

Another popular theme in Avalon's music is his seduction, and sexual encounters with men and women.

This is coupled with his overtly sexualized image, often performing with heavy eye makeup and no shirt.

Upon moving to Los Angeles, he was befriended by ex-MTV VJ Simon Rex who encouraged Avalon to rap and collaborated with him.

The two began passing out demos to Hollywood clubs and soon developed a following among fans of the Santa Cruz nightclub scene.

In November 2006, Mickey Avalon released his self-titled debut solo album.

Released through Interscope/Shoot to Kill Records in association with MySpace Records, the album spawned the singles "Jane Fonda" and "Mr. Right".

In January 2007, Avalon contributed lyrics and vocals on Unwritten Law's "Shoulda Known Better."

That same year, he was featured in a Boost Mobile rap commercial with fellow rappers Jermaine Dupri and Young Jeezy.

In March 2007, Avalon was booed off the stage while opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, in Oklahoma City.

The next day, Red Hot Chili Peppers lead guitarist John Frusciante wrote a letter to the band's fans in Oklahoma City, accusing them of booing Avalon for personal issues, and having a lack of "regard for humanity."

In 2007, the Dyslexic Speedreaders collaborated with the Living Legends and Luckiam on the song, "Nevermind."

In 2008, the Dyslexic Speedreaders released the Shoot To Kill Mixtape.

In 2011, after years of back and forth wrangling with Interscope, Mickey was released from his recording contract.

He is currently signed to Suburban Noize Records.

In March 2012, he digitally released a 4-track EP entitled On the Ave.

His second solo album, Loaded was released in April 2012.

In October 2013, Mickey Avalon released a 5 track EP titled I Get Even Even, and later released a music video for the track Hollywood (feat. Paul Oakenfold).

Three years later, in November 2016, he announced that his third album, Teardrops on My Tombstone would be available on Valentine's Day 2017.

After Mickey became close friends with Simon Rex, they formed a rap group called the Dyslexic Speedreaders.

The group included Mickey Avalon, Simon "Dirt Nasty" Rex, Andre Legacy, and Beardo as the four members.

Andre Legacy was Avalon's friend since elementary school and Beardo was Avalon's friend from their work together in the modelling industry.