Hip-hop lovers celebrate genre’s 50th anniversary in Logan Square

In 2010, Auristela Nunez traveled with a friend, a boombox and a Gang Starr CD to breakdance at the Illinois Centennial Monument in Logan Square, nicknamed “the Eagle.”

“We were playing it on repeat, and we were breaking and people were like ‘Hi, are you going to be here next week,’ and I was like ‘I guess,’” Nunez, 47, of Hampshire, said.

Nunez, who goes by Lady Champ, said she then started going to the monument to dance every Sunday, the same spot she used to visit when she skipped classes in high school. More and more people showed up each week, she said. She eventually found a DJ willing to play music and said they set a date in August to appreciate hip-hop and counteract the bad reputation the genre was getting in the media.

On Sunday, dozens of hip-hop lovers competed in…