On the top of the Lo-Fi Language Learning website, a bold quote from Henry Rollings is the first thing anyone sees. It states, “A great way to learn about your country is to leave it.” This motto and a few years living in Taiwan motivated Fullbright Scholar Miles Iton aka MC Irie Givens to start International Inspiration, a US State Department-assisted program that will bring Oakland rappers to Taiwan for a week of cultural exchange, education, and performances from August 11 to 19.

“I wanted these rappers to see what Hip Hop is like on a block that is not of their own,” said Irie in a phone call with LiFTED. “A country that everyone in the US thinks is only engineers has a whole pocket of people living off Hip Hop.”

The idea is to collab with the California-based non-profit, Hip Hop for Change, to bring the artists to Taiwan for eight days. While they will visit tourist sites on the first day, the rappers will meet local MCs like Lil Krake and DJs like Rica who will be their mentors for their time abroad. On August 17, the rappers will perform at a show called East-West Beats Fest at Brickyard in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Their whole trip will be filmed with assets given to the rappers to use as promotional material when they return to America.

Irie left America in 2018 and lived in Taiwan until 2021 when he returned to America in the middle of the pandemic. He has recently returned to work on his startup Lo-Fi Language Learning, which uses Hip Hop to train artists, educators, and arts-educators. He thinks that Taiwan is the perfect place to help the rappers “facilitate their talents” as well as teach them about their own country by leaving it.

For anyone interested in learning more, click here. If interested in helping out with the fundraiser, click here.