Yeshe Perl (born December 3rd, 1975), better known by his stage name, Mickey Avalon, is an American rapper, hailing from Hollywood, California.
As with many of his hip hop contemporaries, Avalon’s music seems pretty intrinsically tied in with his turbulent, unhappy upbringing. His father was a heroin addict, whilst his mother provided for the family by dealing cannabis, meaning that Avalon’s early years were marked by uncertainty and trouble. In a cruel twist of fate, his father managed to get clean, but was hit by a car after leaving an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting - the driver was drunk. At the age of nineteen, Avalon was forced to make the heart-wrenching decision to take his father off life support.
Avalon himself struggled with heroin addiction in his late teens; he prostituted himself to pay for his habit, whilst his sister - also an addict - would go on to die of an overdose whilst they were living together. Music gave Avalon his escape from a world of misery, and began to work with ex-MTV producer Simon Rex. He released a self-titled debut album in 2006, and went onto support the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ke$ha on tour. He’s also recorded and toured with Rex and others under the name Dyslexic Speedreaders, but has most recently been focusing on his solo career again, releasing a second album, ‘Loaded’, in 2012 and an EP, ‘I Get Even’, in 2013.
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