The hip-hop star who invited Cleveland kidnapping victim up on stage with him last weekend at Rover Fest told CNN he was pumped about meeting Amanda Berry.

“What stuck with me the most, first of all, that she had a smile on her face, you know, that’s one of the most impressive things to me, considering everything that she had been through,” Nelly said.

During his performance, Nelly dedicated his hit song, “Just a Dream” to Berry.

Berry’s first public appearance came one day after Ariel Casto pleaded guilty to 937 counts. Castro will be sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years on Thursday.

This article appears in Jul 24-30, 2013.

Alaina Nutile is the Web Editor who oversees all digital content and social media initiatives for Cleveland Scene Magazine and Detroit Metro Times. Before joining the staff in June 2013, she interned at Business Insider in New York City, and at La Hora in Quito, Ecuador. Alaina is a graduate of Kalamazoo College in Michigan, where she double majored in English and Spanish. Her interests include Japanese food, Breaking Bad, and career development advising.