Simon Reynolds

Like so many vital figures in British pop history, from Pete Townshend to Paul Weller, Bowie came from a blurry region of British society that encompasses the educated working class, the socially precarious petite bourgeoisie and what could be called the uncomfortably-off middle class, i.e. professional or office workers whose income didn’t quite match their aspirations.

The tense domestic atmosphere, along with the family’s uncertain place in the class structure and Bromley’s peripheral location in relation to Greater London, must all have contributed to his feeling of growing up ‘on the outside of everything’.

It seemed like the sort of information that really ought to cause hip hop to implode through its own contradictions.

It’s also possible that white fans prefer it that way, too, that it’s part of the fantasy of real-ness they’re buying into, that doublewhammy of exoticism and authenticity.