[article id="1645780"]Nelly returned to the top 10[/article] this week as his new single "Just a Dream" broke through on the iTunes singles chart to land at #8. After mixed reactions to his last project, [article id="1627263"]Brass Knuckles, the St. Louis rapper[/article] said he felt excited to reconnect with his audience. The track is featured on his forthcoming album 5.0, which is set for release this fall.

"It's great," Nelly told MTV News about "Just a Dream" being embraced digitally. "It's always great when your fans come out and support [you] anytime in your career. But definitely after 10 years, and when you haven't been quite on the scene as much as your fans would like you to, but when they do get a glimpse of you and they feel good, it also makes you feel good."

"Just a Dream" was produced by Jim Jonsin (Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" and T.I.'s "Whatever You Like") and co-written by Rico Love (Usher, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland).

According to Nelly, the string-heavy number almost didn't make it to him. He and Jonsin were working on music together for 5.0, and when the producer played beats for the rapper, "Just a Dream" appeared to be just an afterthought. Nelly scored the hit when he stopped Jonsin and asked him to replay the beat that would become his first single from the album.

"He was playing me a few of his beats and he played that beat, but he kind of moved on to the [next] beat pretty quick," Nelly explained. "I don't know if he thought I wouldn't like that one. [He laughs.] I was like, Wait a minute, what's that? 'Cause I love guitars, I'm a really big fan of guitars. When I heard it, I instantly was attracted to it. I got to listening and the more I listened to it, I got a vision and a feel for it."

What do you think of Nelly's new single? Let us know in the comments!