other Samoans, Kosmo, one of the most famous Samoan hip-hop artists, picked up his dance moves while living in California. He integrated a combination of a bit of strutting, a little boogaloo and popping, and some tutting into his music. He learned the dance while staying with family in Carson, a community that drew large numbers of Samoans relocating from the islands in the 1950s-1970s. As he discovered, popping and other 'street dance' forms thoroughly saturated the lives of Samoan youth growing up in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Carson and neighboring Compton and Long Beach. He vividly remembers, "all the coolest cats was poppin' down at [Carson's] Scott Park." When he returned to New Zealand, his vocabulary brought him prestige among his peers, most of whom tried to integrate dance moves from movies. "Kosmo didn’t consider himself any good until he returned to New Zealand. . . . Here they were just doing the basics, he knew more." For young artists, this hiphop-oriented form of dancing was not only a way to express oneself creatively, but also a powerful sexual tool: “For young men, dance skills also helped to attract the young women who were always present either as critical audience or fellow dancers. As Kosmo recalls, “All the poppers got the girls,” highlighting another case of dance as an equalizing sexual power tool utilized by both sexes in global hip hop. In 1990, Kosmo and two fellow Samoans created The Mau, a hiphop group named for the organization that pushed for Samoan independence under the German and New Zealand colonial administrations. Although the name was rooted in Samoan history, it demonstrates U.S. influences. Similar to the movement of black consciousness in America, the motto for the Mau movement in Samoa was Samoa Mo Samoa 'Samoa for Samoans'. The group continued to articulate a diasporic Samoan cultural nationalism by drawing upon their knowledge of Samoan history, as well as the popular stories of the Black Power movement presently circulating in American hiphop. Their combination of Samoan heritage and American iconography influenced many groups that followed. Samoans abroad have achieved some musical renown. The Boo-Yaa TRIBE had a brief flirtation with the American mainstream, and the Samoan Sisters found more lasting fame in New Zealand. The shows My Idol and Samoa Star Search became important musical competitions in Samoa. Modern Samoan music shows influence from electrical instruments, jazz,