When you first hear the music of emergent pop sensation Vancouver and Toronto-based Ella MNOP, you might find yourself wondering why you should be taking life advice from someone who isn’t even going to turn 12 until October. Well, for starters, she’s one the youngest artists to ever have an original song aired on FM radio. (Mix 96.7 in her native Windsor, Ontario, gets the honors, trivia hounds.) For another thing, she’s already racked up numerous awards and performed before millions of rapt listeners. Oh, and she’s fluent in multiple languages, including French, and she’s currently learning Italian. Feeling inadequate yet?
But Ella doesn’t want you to feel bad; she just wants you to have a well-rounded and realistic approach to your own day-to-day reality. On her breakout single, - the 1.4 million-viewed “L’s with the W’s,” she makes a compelling case that savoring one’s triumphs depends upon learning how to lose with dignity. That same thoughtful approach to life now extends to her acting career.
Ella was announced this week as one of the major stars as Vivie in the upcoming animated series "Barney’s World," marking the return of the beloved purple dinosaur this fall. Vivie is a creative and expressive character who loves painting, performing, and sharing Italian traditions with her Nonna. Together, they care for their friends and family, bringing warmth and joy to their community. The series, featuring music-filled adventures that explore preschool emotions, and launched the careers of Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, will debut on Max on October 14 and air on Cartoon Network starting October 18, with select episodes available on YouTube and international platforms.
There’s no doubt that the record itself is a big W. It has a bouncy, breezy feel that makes it the ideal platform for Ella’s endearing preteen timbre, which effortlessly conveys the kind of earnestness we grown-ups can usually only fake. Not that the track didn’t benefit from adult supervision: Its aural smarts are all credit to superstar producer Adam H. (Ne-Yo, Elise Estrada, Loverboy) and five-time Grammy-winning mixer Orlando Calzada (Lady Gaga, One Direction, Beyonce, Destiny’s Child). What they’ve come up with together portends great things indeed for Ella’s debut album, which is set for release sometime in 2025.
Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/track/1btItX8U9hzHbkaKMONARR
In a voice dripping with confidence that today’s stumble is tomorrow’s victory lap, she urges us to “get that makeup out and put that game face on/ Don’t sweat the sprint cause it’s a marathon.” Cue the killer chorus, which brings everything into focus:
Gotta take the L’s with the W’s
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose
L’s with the W’s
You haven’t lived until you do
You will never feel them highs
If you never feel the lows
Gotta take the L’s with the W’s
“Life is full of setbacks and doesn’t always go as planned,” Ella says. “It can be cruel, but the people who stick with it and seek a better day often get rewarded, and get to appreciate how special a gift life really is.
“This song is my message to everyone who wants to quit when things get tough that if they stick it out, they’ll enjoy the wins much more, because they’ll have endured and dealt with their losses.”
Yet the greatest career influence in Ella’s life is undoubtedly her father, an avid musician whom she was watching perform when she was still in a stroller. It’s him she credits with inspiring her to sing, write and do shows of her own. And it was singing duets with him on TV’s Good Morning America in 2021 that first exposed her to a mass audience: 2 million enchanted viewers, to be exact. He also co-wrote the new single with her (along with Adam H. and Don Wolf, an experienced tunesmith who’s worked with Bon Jovi, Motley Crue and Poison.)
Ella comes to the world of big-time record-making bearing some impressive credentials all her own. She took first place in the Vocalstar singing competition in Hollywood, California, and as a live performer, she’s been a go-to to sing the National Anthem at games by the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and Canadian Professional Basketball’s Windsor Express. That’s not to mention her appearances at the 2023 Miss Universe Canada Pageant in Vancouver in 2023 and 2024 and the Can/Am Games for Firefighters and Police Officers in both 2022 and 2023.
And as if all of that weren’t impressive enough, she’s scored herself a thriving side hustle in animation, lending her voice talents to projects for Netflix and Cartoon Network (where she’ll be heard playing a lead role in a global production set to bow later this year).
Even better, she’s already practiced in the art of giving back. Many of her performances are for charity, and when she won the $1,000 first prize in an open-age talent show during Windsor’s 2023 Carrousel of the Nations, she donated the full amount to influencer @MDMotivator, so they could create a viral video together that helped send a lucky follower to reunite with their family in Sierra Leone, Africa.
To the rest of us, Ella’s artistry itself is gift enough.
“The main idea behind my music is to spread positivity and happiness,” she says. “Music is the universal language, and it’s my way of sharing emotions and experiences with others. If my words or songs can connect with or help one person in any way, that’s what drives me to create.”
Hear, hear. We can’t wait to see what age 12 brings.
