A couple of years later, Harris formed his own troupe, and almost a decade later he created his signature work, 2000′s Rome & Jewels, a hip-hop takeoff on West Side Story and Shakespeare.

The West Side does not have anything like this.” Jaco said the event is a good thing for the West Side, something accessible for the people who identify with hip hop music the most.

Hip-hop may have been born in New York City, but many regions across the U.S. and around the globe have since put their own stamp on it. Perhaps the first to do it successfully was the West Coast ...