Tesfaye often used drugs to help get over writer's block on earlier albums and also abused illegal substances such as, Ketamine, cocaine, MDMA, mushrooms and cough syrup. On social media he typically suffixed his first name with "xo". According to writer Hermione Hoby, it is meant as an emoticon for "a kiss and a hug", but VH1's Zara Golden's stated that it is a reference to his recreational use of ecstasy and oxycodone. Tesfaye later confirmed Zara Golden's statement regarding his social media name.