Costa Rica's Most Successful Artist Debi Nova on Building Something Real in a Speed-Driven Industry
She's been in the industry long enough to see eras rise and fall. Still, Debi Nova chose depth over speed.
Debi Nova is the most successful artist in Costa Rica’s history. She’s a Grammy nominee and the first from her country to reach that stage. Still, when you talk to her, she focuses more on what music has let her experience than on her achievements.
She started out singing backup for Gandhi, Costa Rica’s biggest rock band. Later, she performed with Ricky Martin, Sergio Mendes, and even Britney Spears. She worked with the Black Eyed Peas, wrote songs for RBD, and explored many genres and countries. Along the way, she realized something the industry still finds hard to grasp: there’s a difference between being visible and truly being seen.
For Debi Nova, understanding that difference has shaped her six albums, her Grammy nomination, and her choice not to follow every trend. Most importantly, it’s helped her answer a question many women in Latin music face: how to stay true to yourself when the industry pulls you in different directions.
For Debi Nova, songwriting is how she gets through tough times.
Debi Nova wrote her first song at fourteen. She didn’t realize then that songwriting would become something that saved her life, not just once, but many times.
“Songwriting has always been my way of processing emotions and experiences,” she says. “I think that moment marked the beginning of something I’ve relied on over and over again.”
In a fast-moving industry that always wants something new, songwriting became her anchor.
Her most recent album, Todo Puede Convertirse en Canción (Everything Can Become a Song), clearly shows this belief. She turned toxic and even painful experiences—professional betrayals and personal wounds—into music, transforming them in the process. When asked if songwriting helped her survive those chapters, understand them, or reclaim them. “It’s been that way since I was a teenager. I feel incredibly grateful for that.”
Staying grounded takes work.
Debi Nova has learned that resilience doesn’t look like one big moment of success. For her, it’s something she works on every day, and it’s what has kept her going for over twenty years.
“There are so many external expectations, comparisons, and pressures that can easily pull you away from your center,” she explains. “The most important thing I’ve learned is that I have to be good with myself.”
She says being good with herself means taking care of her mental health, her body, and her relationships. It also means treating her time as precious and not comparing her journey to anyone else’s.
“When I’m able to put myself first and not compare my path to anyone else’s, it becomes much easier to navigate the harder days,” she says. “And the only way I can access that clearly is by staying open—open-minded, open-hearted—and committed to living in a healthy, balanced way.”
A career focused on depth.
Over the years, Latin pop has changed quickly. Trends come and go, and record labels often focus on what’s popular online.
Despite all this, Debi Nova has chosen to go deeper with her music.
She has built a career—six albums, a growing audience, international recognition—by following the songs that felt honest to her. Not the songs that would chart fastest, but the ones that she felt in her body and resonated through her whole being.
“It’s been a challenging path, choosing to build a career without chasing the latest trends,” she acknowledges. “But at the same time, I feel incredibly grateful because I have built a career. I’ve been able to make six albums and grow an audience song by song, through music that is truly mine.”
This choice is almost radical. While the industry values speed, she chose to focus on lasting work. Instead of always changing, she decided to stay true to herself.
“At this point, what fulfills me the most isn’t what I get in return, it’s the act of creating itself,” she says. “The doing. That’s the prize. I get to make music, and that, to me, is amazing.”
What she learns from young artists
Working with others helps Debi Nova learn more about herself and those around her.
Recently, she worked with young artists like Kendall Peña and J Noa on deluxe versions of her album. She was surprised to see that they were still finding their own voices and figuring out their paths in music.
“There’s something so refreshing and inspiring about that,” she says. “Getting to witness how they interpret the songs, what they connect to, what they bring into them… it really expands the music.”
It’s not just about what she gives them. It’s also about what they give back to her.
Kendall Peña made “Noticia de Ayer” his own. J Noa brought a verse to “Épico” that was “incredibly poignant and powerful,” expanding the song’s message about women’s empowerment.
“In a way, they helped me say things that maybe I couldn’t have said alone, or at least not in the same way,” Debi Nova explains.
The challenge of visibility
Debi Nova is the most successful Costa Rican artist in history. She is also, by her own assessment, still not fully seen by the industry.
When she looks at Latin music today, she sees more women creating unique and interesting work from all over the region. But she also notices that the industry still doesn’t fully support or make space for all that diversity.
“I see more women doing interesting, unique work from all across the region,” she says. “But it still feels like that diversity doesn’t fully have a place within the industry.”
You can see this in the awards. She points out that the Grammys usually nominate more women and show more diversity than the Latin music awards. This shows that the Latin music industry still hasn’t made enough room for women in all their complexity.
“The Latin music industry is still a bit behind when it comes to expanding opportunities for women,” she states. “It often feels like Latina artists are still expected to fit into certain stereotypes—both in the kind of music they make and in how they present themselves.”
“I think there’s still a lot of work to be done—both as an industry and as a collective—to create more visibility for Latina artists in the full scope of who they are and what they bring.”
How long can a song last
For Debi Nova, the unavoidable truth is: a song can last much longer than any trend. Sometimes, a song even outlives the moment that inspired it.s or chart positions. It is something you feel and, therefore, your audience feels, too.
“There’s something magical that happens when I sing a song that I truly feel in my heart,” she says. “It’s something that resonates through my whole body. That’s what I respond to.”
She has built her career by believing in that magic. She trusts that being authentic lasts longer than chasing trends. She believes that an audience will slowly grow around music that comes from the heart, not from a formula.
And honestly, that belief has paid off. Debi Nova can look back and know she’s built something real that makes her happy.
A song made from truth never really fades. It waits for the next person who needs it. For Debi Nova, that’s the real reward.