Mickey Avalon

These lines, from his 2006 song “Dipped in Vaseline,” pretty much sum up what Mickey Avalon is all about: “In the Hollywood Hills, swallowing pills, tipsy off scotch whiskey, sniffin' blow through hundred dollar bills.” The 36-year-old Hollywood MC mostly raps about things you'd read about in Nikki Sixx's autobiography. And the dude looks the part, shirtless and covered in tats. While his rhymes and flow aren't exactly A- or even C-list, Avalon knows how to grab your attention with them. His back story is thick with tragedy. At one point, he became a prostitute to feed his heroin habit. His father, also a drug addict, died in a drunk-driving accident, and his sister died of a heroin overdose. Avalon eventually got clean and launched a music career with his pal Simon Rex, the former MTV VJ, and his self-titled 2006 debut album attracted lots of buzz when it came out. He performs tonight at 7 at House of Blues.