She was born in Kosovska Mitrovica, where she also attended school. Her parents are Ružica, a professor of technical sciences, and Zoran, a former basketball player. Nevena once said that her main role model was her sister Jelena, an architect, who she always tried to copy. As a result of this, Nevena skipped a grade just to be able to study together with her sister. Božović studied music at the University of Arts in Belgrade and in 2019 finished her specialization in solfeggio.
She competed in Beovizija 2019 with "Kruna". Having won her semifinal four points ahead of Dženan Lončarević, she went to the final and won the whole competition, thus receiving the rights to represent Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. She received most points from the jury panel, which consisted of Miša Aleksić, Bojana Stamenov, Dejan Ivanović, Goca Tržan and Aleksandar Milić Mili By being ranked third by televote, she booked her spot for Tel Aviv in front of Dženan Lončarević and Saška Janković.