Minelli (Romanian singer)

Luisa Ionela Luca (born 22 August 1988), known professionally as Minelli, is a Romanian singer and songwriter. Upon being part of the girl group Wassabi from 2006 to 2009, she rose to fame with her 2019 single "Mariola", which topped the Romanian Airplay 100 chart. Subsequently, in 2021, "Rampampam" became a hit in multiple territories.

Minelli
Minelli at the Artist Awards 2019
Born	Luisa Ionela Luca (1988-08-22) 22 August 1988 (age 36) Slobozia, Romania
Occupations	Singer songwriter
Years active	2006–present
Musical career
Genres	Dance-pop, House
Instrument	Vocals
Labels	Global
Formerly of	Mojo Wassabi

Life and career

Minelli was born as Luisa Ionela Luca on 22 August 1988, and began singing at the age of 11, when she formed a band in her hometown.^[1] In 2004, she moved to Bucharest, and between 2006 and 2009, she was a member of the band Wassabi. They attempted to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007, submitting the songs "Crazy" with Morandi and "Do the Tango with Me" to that year's national final.^[2][3] After Wassabi disbanded, Minelli focused on her solo career and began working as a singer and songwriter.^[4]

In 2019, Minelli released her first number-one single in Romania, "Mariola", which topped the country's Airplay 100 ranking. 2021's "Rampampam" became a hit multiple regions such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Lithuania and Poland. For the week ending 28 August 2021, "Rampampam" reached number 139 on the Billboard's Global Excl. U.S.^[5] As a songwriter, Minelli's repertoire includes songs such as "Inimi de ceară" (2017) performed by Andra,^[4] "Touch Me" (2019) by Antonia^[6] and "Flashbacks" (2021) by Inna.^[7]

Personal life

Minelli met Lucian Luca in 2007 at a recording studio, and the two later married.^[8] In 2010, they became parents when Sarah Maria, their first child, was born. In 2017, Minelli gave birth to her second child, a boy named Filip.^[9]

Discography

Extended plays

List of extended plays, with details

Title	Details
Nostalgic Illusions	Released: 25 November 2020 Label: Global Records Format: Digital download, streaming

Singles

As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications

Title	Year	Peak chart positions												Certifications	Album
ROM Air. [10]	BUL Air. [11]	CIS Air. [12]	CRO Int. Air. [13]	CZR Air. [14]	GER Dig. [15]	HUN [16]	LTU [17]	POL Air. [18]	RUS Air. [19]	UKR Air. [20]	WW Excl. US [21]
"Și m-am îndrăgostit de tine" (as part of Wassabi)	2007	36	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Non-album singles
"Hello Lonely Girl" (as part of Wassabi)	2008	74	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Don't Go Baby" (as part of Wassabi)	2009	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Dacă strig" (as part of Mojo)	2013	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Empty Spaces"	2017	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"My Heart"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Mariola"	2019	1	—	171	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Loca" (featuring Erik Frank)	2020	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Discoteka" (with Inna)		62	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Rampampam"	2021	2	1	1	4	1	77	1	1	2	1	2	139	ZPAV: 3× Platinum[22]
"Nothing Hurts"		10	8	3	35	—	—	—	2	10	4	70	—	ZPAV: Gold[23]
"MMM"	2022	—	—	9	15	69	—	1	62	1	13	3	—	ZPAV: Gold[23]
"Deep Sea" (with R3hab)		—	—	11	—	65	—	—	—	—	5	14	—
"Get Get Down" (with Crispie)		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Could Be Something"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	23	—	—	—
"Peligrosa"	2023	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Think About U" (with Sickotoy)		—	—	—	—	51	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"No Tears"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist

List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions

Title	Year	Peak chart positions				Album
		ROM Air. [10]	CIS Air. [12]	FRA [24]	GER [25]
"Portilla de Bobo" (LoL Deejays vs. Minelli and Follow Your Instinct)	2013	—	—	52	—	Non-album singles
"Soare din nori" (Blitză featuring Minelli)		—	—	—	—
"Hump" (Arnold Palmer featuring Minelli)	2015	—	—	—	—
"Murder the Dancefloor" (Emrah Is featuring Follow Your Instinct and Minelli)	2016	—	—	—	—
"Love On Repeat" (Dave Ramone featuring Minelli)		—	—	—	87
"My Mind" (Vanotek featuring Minelli)		—	—	—	—
"În dormitor" (Vanotek featuring Minelli)		58	—	—	—
"Summer Love" (Dave Ramone featuring Minelli)	2017	—	—	—	—
"No Sleep" (Vanotek featuring Minelli)		—	—	—	—
"Paradise" (PAX Paradise Auxiliary featuring Minelli)	2019	63	—	—	—
"Addicted" (Sickotoy featuring Minelli)		2	130	—	—
"Done" (Pascal Junior featuring Minelli)	2020	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Uncredited vocals

List of singles with uncredited vocals, with selected chart positions

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		ROM Air. [10]
"Fire to My Heart" (Marco & Seba)	2019	58	Non-album singles
"Pa Mi" (Gran Error featuring Spania '99)		64
"Jacket" (PAX Paradise Auxiliary)		—
"Muzica e pentru toți" (Vanotek or Irina Rimes and Vanotek)		—
"Dum Dum" (Sickotoy and Ilkay Sencan)	2020	20
"F..k That" (Bastard!)		24
"Scara 2, etajul 7" (Carla's Dreams)		3
"You Lose" (Bastard!)	2021	—
"Shukar" (Gran Error)		—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Promotional singles

List of promotional singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Album
		CIS Air. [12]	CRO Int. Air. [13]	RUS Air. [19]
"21 Reasons" (as part of Wassabi featuring Matteo)	2006	—	—	—	Non-album singles
"Haos"	2018	—	—	—
"Bo$$"	2019	—	—	—
"Separated"	2020	—	—	—
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"		—	—	—
"Hola!" (with Romanian House Mafia and Jade Shadi)	2021	—	—	—
"Party" (with Inna and Romanian House Mafia)		—	—	—
"Heart Instructions"	2022	—	—	—
"Confused"		36	39	23
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances

List of guest appearances

Title	Year	Album
"Reality & Dreams" (Morandi featuring Lisa)	2007	N3XT

Songwriting credits

List of selected songwriting credits

Title	Year	Artist	Album
"Dame Dame"	2012	Mandinga	Club de Mandinga
"Sufletul zâmbea"
"Inima nu vrea"	2014	Horia Brenciu featuring Delia	None
"NaNaNa"	2017	Alina Eremia	360
"Dream About the Ocean"		Inna	Nirvana
"Între noi nu mai e nimic"		FreeStay featuring Andra	None
"Inimi de ceară"		Andra
"Magique"		Carine
"Come Around"		Soundland and Timebelle
"Magical place"	2018	DJ Sava featuring Iova
"Nu mai e"		Ioana Ignat
"Touch Me"	2019	Antonia
"Fuego"		Maria Ilieva
"Jacket"		PAX Paradise Auxiliary
"Take Me"		Vanotek featuring Myata
"You Don't Love Me"		Sickotoy featuring Roxen
"Hurricane"		Alessiah
"Como ¡Ay!"	2020	Antonia
"Escape"		Roxen
"Waiting For"		Alessiah
"Touché"		Sickotoy and Misha Miller
"Slow Dance"		Gran Error
"Storm"		Roxen
"Göz Göze"		Alper Erözer
"Love Me"		Alessiah
"Maza Jaja"	2021	Inna	Heartbreaker
"Flashbacks"
"One Reason"
"Beautiful Lie"
"Gucci Balenciaga"
"Sunset Dinner"
"You and I"
"Thicky"
"Till Forever"
"Call 911"		Sickotoy and Maruv	None
"Someone"		Vanotek featuring Denitia
"Up"		Inna with Sean Paul
"Lonely"	2022	Inna	Champagne Problems
"Love Bizarre"
"Baby"
"Fire & Ice"
"Solo"
"Cryo"
"Millennium"
"Kumera"
"Don't Let Me Down"
"Tattoo"		Eva Timush	None
"Karnaval"	2024	Elvana Gjata

See also

• List of music released by Romanian artists that has charted in major music markets