A praise poem is a poem of tribute or gratitude that expresses admiration, gives homage, and/or proclaims positive attributes. Praise poetry is part of the literary tradition of many cultures and has been popular in medieval literature and during the Renaissance, where it often expressed worship of or admiration for heroes, kings, or deities. Praise poems have also long been one of the most widely used poetic forms in parts of Africa and continue to be a familiar literary form in various African cultures. In African literary tradition, a praise poem refers to a series of laudatory epithets applied to gods, people, animals, places, etc. that capture the essence of being praised. These poems are often an important part of an oral tradition as professional bards, who may be both praise singers to a chief and court historians of their tribe, chant the poems.

Praise poems can also refer to any poem that expresses gratitude. These poems are made up of metaphors and similes, forms of comparison relating the writer to an object, a person, a color, or a feature in nature. Each line is a celebratory declaration, an invocation that acts as a cathartic affirmation as the poet places him or herself on the continuum of his or her ancestry. Praise poems are meant to be a sincere and adamant form of flattery, phrased to imply that no negative views of the subject are even comprehensible, upholding the subject as a perfect or near-perfect figure that is to be exalted and glorified to the fullest extent that language allows. While praise poems about an individual figure constitute the most common definition of praise poetry, poems generally reflecting a sense of gratitude can also be considered praise poems.

Praise poetry and singing is an important African practice, past and present. African names carry stories of who you are and where you come from, telling people about your experiences, your joys and struggles, and what you are like, so that others can know you. People create their own praise songs, and praise poets perform at ceremonies, rituals, and festivities to praise a person or group. Praise singing and poetry have become a sophisticated art form, practiced in many cultures through music, dance, and chanting.