Mickey Avalon Net Worth

What Is Mickey Avalon's Net Worth?

Mickey Avalon is an American rapper who has a net worth of $3 million. Mickey Avalon is best known for being a member of the now-disbanded hip-hop group The Dyslexic Speedreaders, along with fellow rappers Simon "Dirt Nasty" Rex, Beardo, and Andre Legacy. Mickey is also known for collaborating with artists such as Katy Perry and Ke$ha and appearing in a Boost Mobile commercial. Unique for his songs that discuss the consumption of drugs such as heroin and cocaine, as opposed to the selling of such substances, his music is also known for delving into his history of prostitution with lyrics that allude to encounters with both genders. His image is hallmarked by his often shirtless performances, heavily tattooed skin, and dark eye makeup.

Early Life

Yeshe Perl, professionally known as Mickey Avalon, was born on December 3, 1975. He has two half-brothers who are identical twins and he claims to have introduced them to the music industry and relocated them to Los Angeles. Mickey is alleged to have had a very chaotic childhood and upbringing. He is of Jewish heritage, and his grandparents were Holocaust survivors who were imprisoned at Auschwitz. Mickey's mother was a marijuana dealer, and he has stated that he began following in her footsteps when he was only 14 years old. Mickey's father was reportedly a severe alcoholic and heroin addict who started attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. After leaving a meeting one night, he was struck by a drunk driver and hospitalized. At just 19 years old, Mickey eventually made the decision to take his father off of life support.

To try and avoid a life of crime and delinquency, Mickey converted to Orthodox Judaism in his late teens. The plan didn't work. He continued selling drugs and became involved in prostitution. He claims that he only prostituted for male clients and that the worst he did was rob them once he got into their cars. Eventually addicted to heroin, he moved in with his sister, who was also a heroin addict. His sister later passed away following an overdose. In his early twenties, he married, fathered a daughter, and relocated to Oregon. There, he continued a life of prostitution to pay for drugs before moving to Los Angeles.

The Dyslexic Speedreaders

In Los Angeles, Mickey Avalon met and befriended former MTV disc jockey Simon Rex, better known by his stage name Dirt Nasty. The two men collaborated on music and began handing out mix tapes around Southern California in order to gain a following. They eventually found one within the local nightclub scene. Before long, they teamed up with hip-hop artists Andre Legacy and Beardo to create the hip-hop group The Dyslexic Speedreaders. The group released their first album in 2004, "Catching Up To Wilt." Their next release was a 2008 mix tape called "Shoot To Kill MIxtape."

In 2009, The Dyslexic Speedreaders – without the inclusion of Beardo – released a song entitled "What Do You Say?" which was featured on the soundtrack of that year's American comedy film "The Hangover." Mickey announced via MySpace that the song would be the group's last release. The Dyslexic Speedreaders soon disbanded and, in 2010, Mickey spoke out on the Five10 Radio show concerning the breakup and attributed it to financial issues. He claimed that he took out loans to build up the band and that Andre Legacy and Simon Rex never contributed towards paying them back despite prior agreements. Mickey announced at that time that he would still consider reconciliation as the problems had been merely financial and not the members "(sleeping) with anyone's chick."

In 2011, The Dyslexic Speedreaders had a one-night impromptu reunion when Mickey attended the Roxy with his daughter on a night when Simon Rex and Andre Legacy were slated to perform. After some prompting, Mickey was convinced to perform onstage with his former bandmates, minus Beardo. In 2015, Mickey and Rex released an EP entitled "Married To the Game," which fans widely regard as their reconciliation.

Solo Career

During his early years in the music industry, Mickey Avalon was known as The Relevant. In 2005, after taking on the name Mickey Avalon, he released his self-titled album through Interscope/Shoot To Kill Records. In 2007, he wrote lyrics and contributed vocally to American punk rock band Unwritten Law's "Shoulda Known Better" album. That same year, he and fellow rappers Young Jeezy and Jermaine Dupri appeared in a commercial for the mobile phone network Boost Mobile.

To grow his music career, Mickey opened for well-known bands. In 2007, he performed during the Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium World Tour. After the audience booed him off the stage, Red Hot Chili Peppers lead guitarist John Frusciante released a statement addressing the fans who had been in the audience that night of the tour. The statement expressed his frustration and disappointment with the way Mickey was treated.

In 2011, Mickey was released from his contract with Interscope Records and signed to Suburban Noize Records, a record label based in Burbank, California. The next year, he released an EP titled "On the Ave," followed by his second solo album, "Loaded." In 2013, he released the EP "I Get Even Even." His next album, "Teardrops on My Tombstone," was released in 2017.

Mickey self-released two parts of an EP in 2018 and 2019: "Some Kind of Exciting" and "Some Kind of Exciting, Side B." Two more albums followed: "Speak of the Devil," his last album under Suburban Noize Records, and "Never Satisfied," which was released under the label BIG PULL.

Personal Life

When asked about his tattoos, Mickey Avalon has said that he treats his body like a scrapbook. Among his many designs are his daughter's name, an Eagle representing America, and his grandfather's Holocaust number.

Mickey has stated that the majority of his drug use was not social but took place while he was alone in hotel rooms. He claims that he once went on a six-month spree of injecting cocaine, on one occasion leaving a hotel room splattered with blood and the bed covered with syringes. On another occasion, he spent hours in a bathroom searching for a vein in which to insert the syringe while he was having a seizure. He has also admitted that, before heading to the airport for a flight, he attempted to stick a cocaine-filled needle in his arm but couldn't locate a vein. Not wanting to miss his flight, he scraped the blood off his arm into a plastic bag and brought the bag to the airport with him. From the airport bathroom, he reached into a diabetic needle disposal and withdrew a used needle, which he took onto the plane and used in the airplane bathroom to inject the cocaine-tainted blood into his body.

Mickey likes surfing, skating, and old cars. He has stated, "I'd rather steal than beg. I'd rather ask for forgiveness than permission."