Mickey Avalon's been through some shit, man. His mom had him selling weed for her when he was just a teenager. She fired him a little while later, though, when she discovered he was shooting up smack at the age of 16. And things got only stickier and trickier from there when he moved to Portland, where he began robbing cats and turning tricks to pay for dope. Avalon eventually got cleaned up and, at the urging of his pal and former MTV personality, Simon Rex (a.k.a. Dirt Nasty), he started writing rhymes, the results of which can be heard on his self-titled debut. Though many of Avalon's raps are downright lame, others, such as "Waiting to Die," are unsettlingly honest: "A street walker selling cock for rock/At the flea market trying to hock my watch/I stay on beat when I work the concrete." Doesn't exactly sound like a rapper's delight.
Sat., Nov. 1, 6:30 p.m., 2008