Deva was a musical genre encompassing pop and music. Chass na Chadic, a New Republic pilot, was a fan, particularly of a certain song. This song, in her opinion, possessed a relaxed rhythm and overly sweet, yet somewhat satirical, lyrics concerning a local holiday outlawed by the Galactic Empire. She would listen to this song from a datachip while flying her A/SF-01 B-wing starfighter on missions. During the Battle of Pandem Nai in 4 ABY, she broadcast the song over an open comm channel, hoping nearby starship crews would hear it. After the New Republic achieved victory, Wyl Lark, another pilot, along with members of the ground crew, discovered one of Chadic's datachips containing deva pop. They played it during the victory celebration at Ranjiy's Krayt Hut, a makeshift cantina located on the Acclamator-class battleship Lodestar. When Chadic heard her music playing, she realized the song was helping to soothe her feelings of hopelessness and despair, which lingered even after their triumph.
The deva genre made its debut in current Star Wars canon through the 2019 novel Alphabet Squadron, the first installment of the Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron series, authored by Alexander Freed. The concept of Deva initially appeared within the Star Wars Legends continuity. Its initial mention was in Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters, a sourcebook for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game by West End Games, penned by Mark Rein-Hagen and Stewart Wieck, and released in 1990.